Hosta hit by cold weather.
Temperatures in the 60s and 70s had many of us seeing flowers and trees starting to bloom in our yards and gardens.
The Easter weekend storm left many of those plants covered in ice and snow and looking so good. Iowa State University extension horticulturist, Richard Jauron, says it’s not a big concern. “They kind of look droopy in the morning — and you obviously don’t want to mess with them when it’s below freezing — but most of them will come out of it. So, I don’t see any long-term damage,” according to Jauron.
The temperatures could stay cold for much of this week. Jauron says you will do more harm than good in trying to prop up plants that are not looking so perky anymore. “Do not try to prop them up or anything at that point because they are quite fragile, and I think most plants will recover,” Jauron says. “So, don’t worry about your daylillies or your garden flox or your peonies — I think they will be okay for the most part — just don’t bother them when they are frozen.”
Jauron says the warm to cold drop also shouldn’t be that big of a concern for trees. “Your oaks and your maples and your other trees — I’m not really worried about them at all — they should be fine. I don’t expect to see a great deal of damage,” Jauron says. “Those trees that may have been blooming like some of the magnolias — those cold temperatures may destroy or damage the flowers — so the flower display may be gone. But as far as the tree itself — I’m not terribly concerned at all about them.”
Jauron says lost flowers are the biggest concern for fruit trees. He says the cold may damage or destroy the flower buds and they would hurt the crop yield, but he says the trees are “perfectly fine.” He says this would apply to apple, peach, pears and plum trees.
“Especially the peaches and plums, because they tend to bloom earlier than apples and pears. And the furthered advanced the plants are in terms of development — the less cold-hardy they are,” he explains. Jauron says with the forecast calling for temperatures to warm back up this weekend, the plants should respond and come out of the cold and start growing again.