TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gardeners Prepare For Cold Snaps

ADVERTISEMENT

By LAURA CONE

The Sun

Published: January 14, 2009

It's been a mild winter so far. Horticulturalists such as Anne Pigeon with Colorfield Farms, Inc. in Wimauma, know a sudden cold snap could damage prized plants.

Pigeon, who has spoken to the Elegant Gardeners of Sun City Center and the Tillers and Toilers in Sun City Center, advises gardeners to put a blanket over plants during a cold spell or bring the plants into a protected area such as a garage.

"Unfortunately, our problem in the Tampa Bay area is we get one or two cold nights a year," she said. "The plants we all plant in our yard are subtropical and tropical. Typically they don't like to go below 32 degrees. If we get a cold snap you get some damage on them."

She said the good news is most every plant will come back. Many plants suffer upper damage and need to be pruned. But she warns against pruning too early in the season.

"After the last danger of frost and freeze, around the third week in February, that's when you can start pruning things back," Pigeon said. "You don't want to prune before the danger of frost is over. If you trim the damage off, if it gets cold again you will go down further into the plant the next time it freezes."

She said gardeners should thoroughly water their plants before, not during, a weather event such as cold snap.

"It does not help to sprinkle water on them during the cold," she said. "You cause more damage."

Some plants that recover, but may suffer during a cold spell include pentas, red saliva and papaya, which can be cut back and will come back from base.

In addition to butterfly plants, garden supplies, orchids, bromeliads and culinary herbs, Colorfield Farms, Inc. is known for their honeybell oranges or "Minneolas Tangelo" which are picked in January and February.

"They are very sweet and juicy," she said. "They are a cross between grapefruit and tangerines. It tastes like heaven. There is nothing else like it."

Robert Conkey of Wimauma, who owns Colorfield Farms, said people typically buy the honeybells by the dozen or by the bushel.

"We have a lot of people from Sun City Center come out," he said. "They like the various produce, annuals and perennials and big baskets."

For people living in Sun City Center with small yards, he suggested container gardening. Containers are ideal for the winter months when some plants need shelter on cold nights.

"We have planters with flowers and herbs and even big ones that have trees in them," Conkey said. "You can have a theme basket. Container gardening is the way to go."

He recently had a new shipment of roses arrive. Conkey carries landscape, hybrid teas and antique roses.

"We are also one of the few people who have different mangos for sale," he said. "They are unusual and we have them."

For more information on Colorfield Farms, Inc., 8221 S. R. 674 Wimauma, call (813) 833-2545.

Editor Laura Cone may be reached at lcone@mediageneral.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT