Community post
Damage from the cold in Florida
Some of you may have seen that we got some unusual cold weather in Florida recently. We are about in the middle of the state north and south, and just a few minutes from the east coast.
Here is the fantastic huge Philodendron selloum in our side yard. Some of these are (were) over 8 feet tall. You can see how it dwarfs the 110 lb Betty standing next to it.
We haven't seen snow here in like 10 years or so, but we did have a few days in the past couple weeks that dropped to record lows. The 2 worst days in a row got down to 24 and 28 degrees F (-4 and -2 C). Nothing like the -40 F (-40C) we used to get in Vermont, but the poor native plants here did not like it one bit.
Here is my poor Philodendron selloum a few days after the freeze.
These lovely colorful Crotons below also took a beating.
Here's what they looked like a week ago.
All that said, we've only a few more weeks of risk for cold weather, with most days now low 70's during day and 50's at night. Winter doesn't last long here, Many of the trees don't even lose their leaves, but the grass turns brown, some lose their leaves for 2-3 weeks, then it all starts greening up again here in late Feb or early March. Really looking forward to the spring this year and adding to our backyard planters.
Replies (29)
How sad that you lost those beautiful plants to the cold. I'm in western, N.Y. and have had over 2' of snow and deep temps this past few days too.
I'm hopeful that they will survive and recover. From what I'm reading online, wisdom says to leave them be for a few more weeks, water to help recovery, and then trim back the dead parts in early March. Fingers crossed that they'll come back. This is only our second winter here, and didn't have the damage last year. The neighbors tell me that it's been there for years and recovered before, so that's some good news.
Oh wow, that is rough! We have some palm trees in our basement or ferns or something that we brought in for the winter. I am not sure if they are going to make it. I hope they see a resurgence once we get them back outside. Will your plants recover?
Well as you can see, there's no bringing those big boys in for the winter. A couple of the neighbors remember them taking a hit like that before and coming back, but wasn't quite as cold as it was this year. The one night we had the 24 degrees, it was also windy and about 18 measured from phone with the wind chill "feels like" temp.
I really hope they do come back, they really are gorgeous to look at and provide a lot of privacy/cover.
I hope they come back as well. Yes, those would be impossible to move! :)
Wow! That's a really sad view... 😞 I think it was yesterday when I was talking with my mom over the phone and she asked me about the weather here in Spain... At her place is under zero and cold, she said she met a friend who said that we are lucky here in Spain, having sun all year round... That was the moment I mentioned Florida, how this isn't like there, always warm... But it looks like I was wrong! 😨
We didn't have under zero, yet... but it was cold, rainy, and very windy the last few weeks! Hopefully, the weather will change for the better... I'm sorry for your Philodendrons...
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Oh that's basically all dead... If plants are not used to it can happen... Here it can reach -6,-7°, and there are some bananas trees, it's not their favorite temperature of course, but they got used to after years and they can handle it
I feel sorry for your plants. But nature is a powerful sorceress and if the roots were not damaged by frost, the plants should recover.
It was definitely sad to see them keel over. Yes Florida covers a lot of area North to South. We're about in the middle, so still get some cold weather for a few days, but not snow. It's really kind of unique. Many of the trees and plants haven't dropped their leaves, and others are actually growing and blooming already feeding the bees. I'm hoping the roots survived and enough of the plants to just trim the bad off next month and let it grow back to it's former glory.
I would love some banana trees or other edible fruit besides the lemon tree we have. Maybe later this year.
Yes, I think the roots survived given we only had 2 of those cold nights.
We'll see by next month if it starts growing back or dies from the trimming.
I'm crossing my fingers that they survive.
apple trees are good, they are pretty strong
Yes, we had lots of Apple trees in Vermont as cold as it got up there they did fine.
Looking more for the sub-tropical stuff now though :)
Kiwi then might be a good choice!
I have a friend who lives in Florida and she told me about the unusual cold weather, she made use of it by snuggling in with a book though, so she wasn't too disappointed or put out by it.
A cute dog in the first image. ❤️
Becca 🌷
Your poor plants x_x hope they're able to recover!
Let's hope for the best!!! You can make it, roots! 😃
That is a good idea. I like that and will look into it more.
We enjoyed snuggling by the fire, a great reminder of how often we used it up North, but definitely ready to be done and back to warm weather. There's a new surfboard just itching to get out!
And thanks, Betty is a big spoiled sweetie!
Me too! Thanks for the kind thoughts and for dropping by!
Oh man that is really cold.. yeah those plants dont look like the kind that likes freezing weather.
Well it feels cold to us now that we are starting to acclimate to the normally warmer weather. What used to be shorts and tshirt temps are now jacket and sockhat weather, lol.
It's sadly to see how poor plants were damaged by frost. But just several days ago was in another region and when train arrived to the main city railway terminal temperature was -25 degrees. But I should mention that all there covered with the snow so plants are not so damaged with such low temperatures.
Nasty damage. glad it didn't last long //
Tks, finished fixing the broken well pump connection and 2 busted sprinkler head connections. Seem to be up and running again now, and just in time to start watering a bit. So funny here, many of the trees haven't even lost all their leaves yet, and other things greening up already.
It was a rough couple weeks.
How is the Speed Weeks Traffic?
Playing around with the Banana Trees up here. Put one in the ground last year and cut it and wrapped it in December. Going to unwrap it Sunday and aee if it comes back. The potted ones we moved inside are doing good.
Not too bad just a bit farther north where we are. Just outside the main tourist loops, although we sometimes see the build up around the main intersections and highways. We tend to stay on the back roads and avoid those anyway.