Photo credit: LSU Ag Center
This arctic blast has certainly done a number on our plants.
LSU Ag Center horticulturist Jason Stagg says when assessing damage to your plants, wait a week.
“After a week, you’ll be able to see which parts of the plant are dead and which parts are still green and living,” says Stagg.
Stagg says if you scrape the stem with a knife or pruners and you see green, that means it’s still alive.
“All of those parts that froze and may have died, they’ll be very easy to distinguish from the growing parts of the plant,” Stagg points out.
Stagg says while many winter plants likely survived, don’t expect a lot of color for the time being.
“We will not see anything bloom for a while,” notes Stagg. “It probably burned off a lot of the buds and the existing flowers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the plant’s dead.”
Stagg says when cutting back your plants, don’t cut them all the way to the ground, because you’ll leave them more vulnerable in future freezes.
“Take off no more than a third to a half, especially with your ornamental bananas,” Stagg says. “You can cut the frozen leaves off, but don’t cut that stalk all the way to the ground.”
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