Our first Central Texas cold snap of 2022 has had its way with our tender vegetation. It’s like this every year. I try to protect my specimen plants by bringing them in the house or putting them in the hobby greenhouse. Sometimes, I cover them with old towels or sheets. You probably do some or all of these things for your favorite plants.
Some of my favorites are root hardy – the Brugmansia (Angel Trumpet), Hoja Santa (an herb used in Latin American cookery), and Thunbergia (Back-eyed Susan vine that is a climber and ground cover). Years ago, I decided to let them face the elements alone, cutting back the dead plant tissue, and nurturing their root-based new growth in the Spring. So far, this has worked for the last five to ten years.
I’ll cut all of these plants back in a week or so after the moisture has left the plant tissues and they are lighter to cut, bag and carry to the curb. I will look forward to their return in the Spring.