With Last Night’s Frost And Temp Of 29 Degrees, My…
Mary Asked
With last night’s frost and temp of 29 degrees, my crepe myrtle and my hydrangea are very wilted and leaves are dark; will they come back out? It also partially blacked the leaves on my Russian sage; same question?
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello, Mary in Kentucky: The weather has been uncharacteristically warm and the plants do not know any better than to put on new growth. Unfortunately, this new growth has not had time to harden off to protect itself from damaging frosts. As we have experienced we are not out of the woods yet in terms of freezing temperatures. The average frost-free date for our area is not until May 10, so we still have a few weeks to go before we are in the clear. As for the damaged foliage, it is not going to be detrimental to the plants. It will eventually defoliate and put on new healthy growth. It will not kill your plants but it does make them look unhappy. Even if we have warmer daytime temperatures with cooler nighttime temperatures, the plants may not have been as affected by the freezing temperatures but that has not been the case and so we are seeing a lot of plant material looking like it has been burned. There is not much you can do at this point except to let the plants recover on their own. As we get closer to May 10 and the plants have not dropped the damaged foliage, you can go ahead and remove it, encouraging them to put on new growth. If more than the foliage was damaged you may have to get your pruners out and take out the damaged stems as well, but do not do this until after the frost-free date has passed.
