It’s been five weeks since the big freeze. As my yoga instructor, Gretchen Weber, said so well last night, the first few weeks was about mourning. Mourning the loss of big, beautiful, tropical plants that have abounded in our warmer-than-normal winters.
Now we’re all in the recovery mode. Some have been quicker on the draw than others. Some want to just get their garden back to where it was as quickly as possible. For others, now may be a great time to rethink your garden. What do you want going forward?
Do you want your landscape beds wider so they will accommodate the natural growth of plants without constant shearing? Or smaller beds with more grass or rock?
Do you want a compost bin in a spot where a big overgrown shrub once was, a compost bin that will help you constantly enrich your soil?
Do you want to have more plants that feed the birds and butterflies? Yesterday, I visited with Dr. Dale Gawlik, Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. He moved from Florida into a home on Padre Island that had many ornamental plants that died in the freeze. Instead of replacing with the same, he is going back with only plants that provide habitat and food for birds and butterflies.
Do you want plants that stay lower to show off more of your house from the outside? Or plants that grow up and frame your views from the inside?
Do you want to change your color palette (another Gretchen comment last night)?
Do you want less of your landscape to be tropical so in the next freeze you don’t lose as much? Now’s a good time to drive around and see what plants flourished in the cold temperatures.
Take your time. Look through magazines and make Pinterest boards. Stroll our garden center and others. Our growers are ramping up to supply us more plants and greater variety than ever. Enjoy the process and always remember, we’re here to help you.
-Sally Gill
Julie Baker says
Gotta love Gretchen ☺️ We’re keeping some things the same, just regrowing from roots (lantana, esperanza, philodendron), and others we are swapping. Definitely adding lavender this go round! But also hoping to replace our bulbine – I miss it already!
Sally Gill says
Yes, I am very grateful for Gretchen. She is a great teacher. I do love lavender but it doesn’t like our summers so I wouldn’t rely on it in a big way. I try to have a pot of it in the spring. Yes – bulbine is VERY dependable – great plant for South Texas! Thanks Julie! Sally
John Roberts says
We need more oak trees and less palms and this freeze could happen again. So I am planting oaks and crepe myrtles.
Sally Gill says
Yes – oaks and crepe myrtles are great performers in South Texas. It’s easy to spot the cold hardy plants right now – other small ornamental trees that did well are mountain laurel, yaupon holly and possum haw. Thank you John! Sally