My Shirley Temple, red leaf, and an NOID red hibiscus are goners.

Pruned down both angel trumpets - hopefully they will be back.
Also cut back my other tropicals and ginger plants. We'll see which ones will come back to life.

Aw, Betsy. That is sad! I hope some of the others will recover for you. I hate losing plants, but sometimes it can't be helped.

So sorry Betsy - such a difficult winter.

Rangoon creeper is another goner but the Mexican flame is showing new growth.

Gotta find me a Rangoon creeper; hopefully the nursery where I bought it two years ago will have some for sale this spring.

@plantmanager and @jerseyridgearts, thks for your sumpathies; I know many gardeners in our area lost many plants so we're all in the same boat.

Are you sure they are gone? Some of my more tender plants recovered from a surprise freeze last year long after I had given up on them.

porkpal said:Are you sure they are gone? Some of my more tender plants recovered from a surprise freeze last year long after I had given up on them.

how long til you saw signs of life? I think I've lost ALL my Ginger and Lantana and am ready to cull them but I know so little about tropical plants that I'm wondering if its wise?

I did the scraping of the trunks and they are mushy, not green, but brown; but I haven't pruned them down yet. Hoping they will surprise me.

@jerseryridgearts, if the ginger rhizome is firm, then they will come back. My lantana is showing some life, so like @porkpal we can't give up on them.

Cut off the dead stuff if you like, but wait a few weeks before you give up and dig the rest up.

I had a bottlebrush last year that looked dead as can be, stems were brittle and brown. Then it started some new growth from the ground in April. I say don't give up! You never know what might come back from the roots.

I just went and checked some of my plants, and am now seeing some new growth started on my orange tree and the bottlebrush (got hit by the freeze two years in a row, amazing it is still kicking).

My lantana dies to ground, but I cleaned some beds and the lantana, vanilla grass, iris dietes, mex mint marigold and tradescantia are coming back out now. Too early yet for ginger still. Same with the Soap aloes, some pups survived the mush the older ones turned into. Dont give up on them, my clematis and firecracker bushes arent showing yet

Well, I'm a believer now. I see things returning from dead clumps (lantana, agastache, some gingers - maybe the canna?). Glad I didn't start clean up -- what a great excuse, lol. I even found a pot with a petunia that overwintered and is blooming - crazy!

Betsy, any hope your hibiscus are still sleeping? Crossing fingers.

Tomorrow is the last frost date for Austin. It's going to be 80F tomorrow. I'm going to open the hoops and let the plants breathe some fresh air! Hope the wind doesn't pick up. All that plastic will wind up next door!



Edited to add update: Will not be 80F today. New prediction this morning is calling for 83F.

Winds here shortly after breakfast, but cleanup anywho. I have a friend helping out as I lift pots and clear the leaves. It's never the temp I expect right now, but I am enjoying the sunshine after so much rainy, drizzly days. I know I have coral snakes, so not reaching in to clear the vinca til next Dec. Some of my stuff wont show til after April Fools...

Your 'helper' is adorable.

Thats Snickerdoodle - Doo for short. 6and a half months old. He is my guardian in the garden, chuckl, thnx

Cute name for a cute kitty!

I have a niece who's in the cat rescue business. Not long ago she posted a picture of a black cat that she named Morticia. Then she named the 3 kittens Gomez, Pugsly, and Wednesday. (Addams Family, anybody?)

It might be better not to mention the names to potential adopters.

She lives in Bangkok. Potential adopters, unless they're ex-pats, probably wouldn't know of the Addams Family. Or would they??? Old videos do get around.