The Special: Winter Color and Flowers

Even though summer flowers and shrubs have shut down for the winter, it’s still possible to have color in your landscape and in your home.

Seasonal Natives

Our native yaupons or possumhaws, both evergreen (ilex vomitoria) and deciduous (ilex decidua) grow to be over 12 feet tall, and display red berries during the fall and winter. Now is a great time to select these plants, since you can confirm that you are getting berry-producing female plants, and winter is the best time to plant them in your landscape. Our experience indicates that after transplanting it may take a couple of years for the berry production to start. (We’ve noticed that native plants take their time getting established before committing their resources to flower, fruit and seed production.) The picture shows one small area of a possumhaw that was planted three years ago – this is its first year to produce lots of berries – and it was worth the wait! More information is available at http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ilvo

Evergreen sumac (rhus virens), a shrub or small tree, has shiny dark green leaves, an intricate branching structure and produces frosted red berries throughout the fall and winter. It can be trained to be a small tree, by removing all branches except the central trunk. In its shrub form, it can provide screening or be pruned into a native hedge. http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rhvi3

Another holiday-themed plant is Texas Betony, stachys coccinea, an evergreen ground cover with red flowers throughout the year. Once established, this wonderful plant thrives and flowers in heat and cold, in sun or partial shade, provides hummingbird nectar and is unattractive to deer! Its water needs are modest and an occasional shearing keeps it tidy. http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=STCO

Holiday Flowers and Bulbs

Now is the time to plant cool season flowers such as pansies, cyclamen, ornamental cabbages and kale, and snapdragons. We cannot grow these plants successfully during hot weather, but our relatively mild winters allow them to grow and flower. For indoor holiday blooms, start Amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus in November. Bulbs and planting kits can be found at garden centers and mail order sources.

The Good: Winter Protection

As temperatures drop, providing protection to all our plants, which moderates temperature swings, helps plants get through the winter and emerge stronger in the spring.

Protection for Plants in the Ground

Protection can take several forms, but the one that helps 24X7 is mulch. Mulch helps keep the warmth of the soil from radiating into the air, thus keeping the plant’s roots warmer. A thick layer of mulch over the root area of a plant can also protect the crown of perennial plants that die back during cold weather. Fallen leaves make great mulch and will ultimately break down and improve the soil. The Comal County brush recycling center on Hwy 46 provides free shredded tree and brush mulch. And, of course, various mulches are available from garden centers. (Mulch can stay in place year-round – in the summer, it keeps the soil cooler and helps reduce water loss.)

Watering plants helps protect them, too, because water holds warmth and releases it more slowly than plant surfaces or air. Our recent dry spell means that many of our plants are sitting in relatively dry soil, which tends to get cold faster than moist soil. Watering plants before freezing weather arrives can help keep the roots from being damaged.

“Frost blankets” made of spun fibers, not clear plastic, can provide additional protection for plants. These lightweight covers can help keep the soil’s warmth around the plants. The covers are placed over the plants and pinned or weighted to keep the edges in contact with the soil. There is some maintenance involved, as they should be pulled back on warm days.

Finally, before fertilizing or pruning plants in the fall, consider whether those activities will stimulate new growth, which will be more susceptible to freeze damage.

Protection for Plants in Pots

Plants in pots are more susceptible to freezing weather because the exposed sides of the pots radiate heat more rapidly than plants in the ground. Potted plants should be brought into a protected area such as the house, garage or greenhouse. If no indoor area is available, it may help to group them together and protect them by surrounding with mulch, watering them and using frost blankets.

When bringing plants indoors, avoid bringing the pests they are likely harboring. For a few days before bringing plants indoors, spray them daily with an organic soap, then quarantine them for a while so any pests they bring with them can be eliminated before they attack your houseplants.

More Information on protecting plants during cold weather is available at this link:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/FrostsandFreezes.pdf

The Bad: Winter Temperature Fluctuations

In Mystic Shores, we can expect our first freeze around November 15. As winter arrives, our average highs are in the 60’s to low 70’s, with lows in the upper 30’s to 40’s. However, within those averages lurk record highs of 90 degrees and lows of zero. Last winter, bitterly cold 9 degrees was measured by home weather stations here in Mystic Shores, which was seven degrees colder than the 16 degrees recorded in San Antonio.

Rainfall averages are less than two inches per month from December through March, and this year’s La Nina weather pattern indicates we are in for a relatively drier, and warmer winter.

Plants may respond to mild spells by leafing or blossoming, only to have freezing weather destroy the new growth or blooms. One of the many advantages of native plants is that they have adapted to the weather fluctuations that we experience in Central Texas during fall, spring and winter, and may not get fooled by unseasonable weather.

For more information and statistics on our South Central Texas climate, visit this link:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/ewx/wxevent/wincli20092010.pdf