Clean up the damaged
foliage, but don’t be too quick to cut the plants back severely. It is possible
that there is only minimal damage, and the plants will recover without pruning.
Give them a chance to warm back up and get growing before you cut them back. You
have of course, lost any flowers that were open on many plants--from tulip
magnolias to bradford pears, but overall they should recover, even though you
won’t get more flowers this season. The cold spell was worse than normal, since
our plants were so far ahead of schedule because of the mild winter, and then
the temperatures really got low. Some tender foliage on perennials may have been
killed back if it wasn’t protected, but again, there isn’t much you can do at
this stage, but wait and see what happens. One thing to keep in mind, keep an
eye on the weather. Our average frost free date in central Arkansas is April 9,
so we aren’t out of the woods yet. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again. But, be
prepared if it does.
I know I am not
alone, but many of my plants were emerging and/or leafed out when the cold snap
came through last week. What should I do to help them recover? My roses were
nipped back pretty hard, even though I tried to cover them. Should I cut them
back to right above the graft line?