Tag Archive for: native plants
What’s Going on Here?
Unless you live under a very warm rock, you’re well aware Central Texas is an icebox right now. Proper vegetation management during these freezing conditions is crucial for safeguarding plant life.
If you’ve braved the frozen tundra, you may have seen plants doing some bizarre things. But one of the most bizarre of all, most of us might think, is this:
(photo/Marc Opperman @slowcomotive via Flickr)What is it? A native Texas pollinator staple called frostweed. What we’re seeing is a physical reaction by the plant to freezing temperatures.
Why does it happen? That’s the really weird part. During landscaping, effective vegetation management strategies and practices can help mitigate the impact of such phenomena on plants and ensure their long-term health and survival.
Maas Verde’s Marc Opperman explains:
Frostweed (Verbesina virginica) is a native Texas perennial that, in its natural state, colonizes under live oaks and other shaded areas. It can grow to five feet or higher in wetter years, and is still incredibly hardy in drier ones. It produces prolific clusters of white composite flowers in Fall, making it an important nectar source for many pollinators, including migrating monarch butterflies.
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But when temperatures take a steep polar dive in Winter, frostweed really puts on a show.
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As the air drops quickly below freezing, but when the ground remains relatively warm and moist, sap from the active root system of the plant pushes up through the above-ground stem. As the sap freezes, it splits the stem and begins to produce delicate ice “flowers” that can sometimes resemble white roses made of ribbons, or maybe a large tuft of cotton. Often, the tendrils of frozen sap will continue to grow for as long as the ground stays warmer and the air stays cold. It’s not uncommon to find these ribbons growing to a foot or more over prolonged cold.
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Relatively few plants exhibit these ice shows, and no one seems exactly sure why frostweed does. But this unique bit of winter interest, as well as its shade tolerance, drought-hardiness, and importance to pollinators, makes frostweed a worthy addition to a native landscape.
(Photo/Marc Opperman)You heard it here first.
Featured Image: Frostweed displaying its signature winter behavior; (photo/Marc Opperman @slowcomotive via Flickr)
Tips For Winterizing a Garden in Central Texas
Temperatures have finally dropped (maybe for good), and there’s one thing on every Texas cultivator’s mind: winterizing the garden.
Whether you’re a homeowner with landscape shrubs, an avid gardener with colorful flower beds, or a farm-to-table vegetable grower using steel planter boxes, you know how important it is to prep your plants for winter.
There’s plenty you can do to help. Winter is a key season in any plant’s growth cycle, and there are benefits available. In fact, most plants will do some of the work themselves.
Check out this list of our favorite tips and tricks to help your plants not only succeed, but thrive through winter in Texas.
1. Water Deeply Before a Freeze
It might be counterintuitive, but watering plants before a freeze actually helps roots stay warm. Soil is a natural insulator — it changes temperature more slowly than air. And wet soil cools even more slowly.
“Water loses its heat slowly over the hours into the colder temperatures,” Texas A&M AgriLife advised. “Watering just before the freeze can help by creating warmth.”
(Photo/Maas Verde)2. Add Mulch or Leaf Litter To Boost Insulation
Have you ever stopped to wonder how even small plants can survive weeks of bitter-cold temperatures? While the above-ground structures of species like woody natives are especially resilient, it’s what happens inside the soil that counts.
The best way to protect that functionality: mulching.
Soil is an excellent insulator. In Texas’ tumultuous climate, that’s a key to any native plant’s survivability.
Consider those weeks when daytime temperatures swing between 40 and 75 degrees. Even in a cold front that lingers for a few days, the soil can retain a lot of ambient heat.
That’s like a jacket for plants.
“During these big swings, soil will typically stay closer to an average temperature,” Opperman said. “Just because air temperature drops, that doesn’t mean the depth where these plants have roots is going to be that cold.”
Maas Verde recommends sprinkling fresh mulch or leaf litter on garden beds ahead of the coldest winter temperatures. The added material will help limit heat loss at the soil surface.
(Photo/Creative Commons)3. Choose the Right Plant Covers for Freezes
With eco-friendly planting practices, gardeners aim to create sustainable gardens that are in harmony with the local environment. However, even the most thoughtful planting cannot fully protect plants from the dangers of freezing temperatures. Freezes can shock plants when the air deposits frost on their leaves and stems, causing their cells to rupture as water inside becomes ice and expands. This can happen anytime the temperature stays low enough to freeze standing water on the ground.
While covering plants with tarps, towels, or blankets will help, it’s not ideal. Breathability, sunlight penetration, and weight are all concerns — using the right tool for the job is important.
For beds, Maas Verde recommends a medium-weight UV fabric like DeWitt’s N-Sulate. It’s purpose-engineered, reusable, and generally easy to handle.
For winterizing potted plants or trees, you can use a Planket. Essentially the same thing in a parachute shape with a drawstring closure, it tightens around plant bases or pots for convenience. Multiple sizes are available.
4. Build Your Own Plant Caddy
The “if you’re cold, they’re cold” feels — we’ve been there, too. And whether or not you’re sentimental about your plants’ comfort, sometimes a plant just needs to come inside. Young individuals with shallow roots can be especially vulnerable to extreme cold, and even bringing them inside the garage can make a difference.
Have you ever noticed how so many plant caddies are the same size and shape? Our resident gardeners know plants are the opposite of that — they come in every size and shape.
For a quick solution, get a plastic bus tub or metal galvanized tub and add casters with construction adhesive or nuts and bolts. This simple design will fit various pot sizes and keep water off your floors.
Or you could hit the same function with a different aesthetic by using a wooden craft crate. For floor protection, consider plastic bin lids or pot saucers.
5. Fertilize in Early Winter
You don’t want to fertilize too late in the season. This is because plants have the best opportunity to capitalize on any nutrient recharge when growing conditions are also ideal.
As I write this in early November, that’s exactly the case.
“Treatment right now is a great idea,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman said. “With plenty of sun, warmth, and regular rain before it gets cold, it’s pretty much the best time to give your garden a boost.”
Maas Verde recommends a light layer of organic compost or granular fertilizer, such as MicroLife Multi-Purpose 6-2-4.
6. Your Plants Are Protecting Themselves!
At first glance, it might not look like much is going on with your outdoor plants in winter. But native and non-native adapted species actually spend this time deepening and developing their root systems.
The plant’s above-ground tissues are experiencing dormancy. Instead of using resources to grow leafy tissue, pollinate, or transpire, it’s sending all that energy underground.
“As roots grow, they tend to channel downward to create structure, and send these hairy rootlets out sideways ,” Opperman explained. “It’s a surface area thing, and it’s especially important for nutrient uptake, mycorrhizal connection, and all kinds of good stuff.”
In temperatures about 40 degrees and above, this is how native plants “winterize” themselves. By spring, they’ll be even better prepared to capitalize and grow.
*Featured image: Sylvia Sassen via Flickr
