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What happens when hail hits tender plants

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED FEB 22, 2019

Hen and chicks survived the hail and frost, but the plant shows some brown scars. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Succulents at greatest risk to cold (and wet) damage

California’s big chill continues. Frost, hail and snow gave our state an extra dose of winter, just when we thought we were headed for an early spring.

Not-in-recent memory episodes popped up from Carmichael to San Diego. Thursday, it snowed on the beach at Malibu (only briefly, but it counts) as well as in the desert past Baker.

What did these freezing conditions do to our gardens?

Hail punches holes in leaves, especially big tender foliage. Because most of this winter has been mild, semi-tropical plants such as canna and ginger already had started to grow back. In our Sacramento yard, they got thrashed.

That damage is mostly cosmetic, but wait until late March or April to trim it off. Frayed or frost-burned foliage is helping to protect the plant from more potential damage. Sacramento’s traditional last-frost date is March 23.

Come spring, those plants will grow fresh foliage and look just fine.

Succulents may not be so lucky. Fleshy leafed plants can bruise and show lasting scars of hail impacts.

Worse, succulents are filled with water. Their cells can freeze, then burst, turning the foliage to mush.

Hail usually melts before it can cause any frostlike damage, but exposure to temperatures below 32 degrees for 30 minutes or more can cause significant damage to fleshier succulents.

According to succulent experts, it’s not just the cold that causes damage, but the exposure to bright sunlight when frozen. The plants need to thaw gradually to avoid bursting their cells. Shade them with a sheet or cardboard to protect them while they thaw.

Due to an abundance of rain this winter, succulents already are at risk of rot. They can survive frosty conditions much better with dry soil than wet. If planted in containers, make sure to tip out excess water.

Because of this rot risk, prune off mushy foliage and stems from damaged succulents immediately to encourage new healthy growth.

According to succulent expert and best-selling author Debra Lee Baldwin, succulents exposed to light frost may only show damage at the tips. Exposure to freezing temperatures for several hours can collapse a whole plant. Succulents generally don’t regenerate from the roots, she added. Crassulas, aeoniums, euphorbias and kalanchoes are at greatest risk.

Living in northern San Diego County (which also saw a dusting of snow this week), Baldwin has a lot of experience, helping her succulent collection cope with near-death experiences. Find it here along with lots of photos: https://bit.ly/2Ef6x4f

For more on succulents: www.debraleebaldwin.com .

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succulents gardening Sacramento winter weather frost freeze rainfall snow semi-tropical plants hail weather

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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