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| Penny Fletcher photo
Floridians are used to seeing palm fronds of all kinds turn brown from the bottom of the trees as old fronds die and new ones shoot up from the top of the trunk. Although many palm trees can stand a few nights of cold, the long nights of freezing and near-freezing temperatures have browned, and even blackened, many formerly healthy palm fronds. Still, the experts say “wait and see” before doing any trimming.
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By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net
SOUTH COUNTY- Your plants, trees, flowers and shrubs may look ready for the compost pile, but underneath all those dead branches and leaves, there may still be life.
While species of plants and trees that have not withered and lost leaves in the last 20 or more years, like the fronds of hardy species of palms and some Florida perennials, may look like they’ll never blossom again, experts say they very well might.
The longest cold spell on record for parts of Florida (including South County) that just passed may have wrecked havoc with fish farms and some edible crops, but it hasn’t necessarily ruined the plants in your yard.
Some homeowners say even the bushes and flowers they covered carefully have withered and browned, and for the first time they remember, have only bare branches.
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| The half-formed stalk of bananas on the tree at left is ruined but the trees should look alive again in the spring. Before the extended cold spell earlier this month, bananas extended from the small bunch remaining on the stalk down to the dark purple bloom at the bottom of the limb. |
“I know there’s a desire to jump right out and do something - aesthetically- so it doesn’t look like a nuclear bomb hit your yard, but the best thing to do is wait until all danger of cold temperatures is past because there could still be a late freeze,” said Marina D’Abreau of the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension service at the University of Florida. “Last year we had a cold spell at the end of February. We always allow for some weird kind of fluke like that here at the demonstration gardens (at the Extension Service). We never do any cutting until after Valentine’s Day.”
Florida has very finicky weather, D’Abreau said. The risk of a late-season freeze or frost remains present, and leaving the dead branches and leaves on what’s left of your plants and shrubs could act as protection if there’s any life buried deep inside.
Some specifics D’Abreau offered included keeping up your regular watering schedule- watering too much could produce fungus or rot- and taking a good inventory of your plant, shrub and grass choices.
“A lot depends on what kind of grass you had,” she said as an explanation when asked why some grass now appears brown while other grass is almost white. “Some will come back and some may not. It will depend on what life is left down in the tissue.”
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| Penny Fletcher Photos
Prior to the last cold spell, these shrubs, now brown, were as green as the vine growing on this wall in Summerfield Crossings, Riverview. The strip of grass, unfortunately, is all too similar to many of the lawns and grassy areas in South County- looking almost as white as weeds that have died along the roads. |
As for the highly tropical plants, many may be dead, because they are not designed to withstand below freezing temperatures for more than a day or two. But still, deep inside, there may be some life and disturbing the deadened parts now could endanger that.
Palm trees are trickier and homeowners have to take a longer wait-and-see attitude about them.
“Palms are slow growing and only grow from one point- right out of the top- so no one will know if they are dead until time passes.”
The unusual browning, and even blackening, of some of the palm fronds shows only that those fronds have died. Don’t cut anything yet,” she said. “If there’s any nutrients or energy left anywhere in the plant (or tree) it could be reabsorbed and reenergize new growth.”
When certain plants don’t reenergize and grow back, homeowners should reassess their plant choices.
“Why replant things that will die if it freezes? There are many choices that are not completely tropical that will come back after something like this and do well,” she said.
D’Abreau also explained why the invasive Brazilian peppers seem to be flourishing.
“Unfortunately, they will take over any area where other plants have died, so we really need to get them out, but the time to do it is in the summer when nobody wants to work in their yards. That’s when they don’t have any berries on them and can’t spread when cut down.”
Since this is the season when they drop their berries (and reproduce) handling them now will only make the problem worse.
“If you pull them out now, you may have seedlings growing everywhere (from the berries left on the ground) in the spring,” she said. “It’s better just to wait.”
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