How we approach the Freeze for our Garden?
Hello Creation Village!
As your Garden Manager, I wanted to reach out about questions regarding the freezes we had and what that means for our campus. The primary question, “Will you be cleaning up the mess?” The short answer is yes, but not yet.
Florida, even into South Florida, is considered Sub-Tropical—warmer than temperate climates, but not quite tropical. Central Florida is in growing zone 9. Both of these mean we still get winter. As you all know, our winters are usually mild, dipping into cooler temperatures only occasionally, then bouncing back to warm, sunny skies. What we saw over the last two weeks was definitely unusual for Florida; the last time we saw temps that low for that long was 40 years ago!
Though we are warming back up this week, we are actually still in winter. Our last frost/ freeze risk date isn’t until March 1. This means we could still see more frost/ freeze. All that brown, potentially dead material is insulation for the plants against further damage in the case of more cold weather. In addition, it may look rough, but the stems, cores, and deeper parts of the plants may still be alive and well. The best way to see where it is still alive, thus were to trim the plant, is when new growth appears. This may take several weeks to appear.
Trust me when I say I want to clean things up as much as you want me to! It is definitely hard to see the campus (and all of central Florida) so brown and crispy. I am itching to clean it up, but I know it’s best for the long-term health of the plants to wait, as all the experts recommend. However, there are some things I can do in the meantime to help our campus stay looking amazing. Rest assured I will be working on those things. It will be Spring Break before we know it, and everything will be green again. At that time, Facilities and I will be working hard to trip everything up and replant what was lost. By Earth Day we will have much to celebrate! If you’d like to sponsor the replacement of any plants that have been lost to the freeze, please speak with Mrs. Nalani. In the meantime, we can sip on some hot coffee and enjoy these cool mornings while they last. Cheers! ~ Miss Angie, Garden Manager