April 14, 2021
Texas gardeners are feverishly comparing notes about plant survivors and croakers after February’s Big Freeze. I’m doing the same and documenting how every plant in my garden fared. Please see my first post in this series for the introduction and to learn how my trees are doing. Today I’m taking a look at my shrubs, sub-shrubs (like Salvia greggii), and woody perennials, a large plant group in my garden that, truth be told, took a big hit.
Asterisks indicate plants native to Texas. Plants that were stunted, maimed, or killed by the freeze are in bold, for easier searching.
Shrubs, Sub-Shrubs, & Woody Perennials
- Abutilon – Flowering maple: ‘Bartley Schwarz’: Killed to the ground but coming back well from the roots.
- Ageratina havanensis – Shrubby white boneset, or white mistflower*: Died back, as per normal. I cut it back hard, and it’s coming back quickly.
- Aloysia virgata – Sweet almond verbena: Killed — at least, it looked completely dead when I removed it last week. I love the fragrance of its flowers, but it’s a big, coarse-leaved plant that had grown too large for the space. So I took the opportunity to remove it.
- Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii – Flame acanthus*: Died back, as per normal. I cut it back hard, and it’s coming back quickly.
- Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’: Died back, as per normal. I cut it back hard, and it’s coming back quickly.
- Buxus microphylla var. japonica ‘Gregem’ – ‘Baby Gem’ boxwood: Completely unfazed.
- Buxus sinica var. insularis ‘Winter Gem’ – ‘Winter Gem’ boxwood: Completely unfazed.
- Callicarpa acuminata – Mexican beautyberry, or black beautyberry: Killed to the ground with branches sloughing off bark. As of this week, sprigs of green are coming up from the roots.
- Callicarpa americana – American beautyberry*: Completely unfazed and leafing out normally.
- Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Prostrata’ – Spreading Japanese plum yew: Completely unfazed.
- Chamaerops humilis – Mediterranean fan palm: Seriously maimed. The fronds turned brown and collapsed, and I cut them off, leaving a few on the trunk crown to avoid removing anything green. I’ve been watching anxiously to see if the crown will show any green, indicating that the main trunk will releaf. It’s surprisingly hard to tell, or maybe I just don’t want to face facts. So far, I’m seeing only a faint tinge of green (maybe?) in the crown, but new leaves are starting to emerge at the base of the plant. I’m still hoping the main trunk will releaf. This is a large but slow-growing plant that took 10 years to reach its current size, and it’s left a big hole.
- Chamaerops humilis var. argentea – Silver Mediterranean fan palm: Same as above. New leaves are starting to emerge from the base, but I’m really hoping the main trunk will releaf. The silver Med is even slower-growing than the standard Med fan palm, and I’d like not to have to start over with it.
- Datura wrightii – Jimsonweed*: Died back normally, but it seeds out vigorously, and seedlings are coming up.
- Galphimia gracilis – Golden thryallis: Killed to the ground but coming back slowly from the roots.
- Hamelia patens ‘Compacta’ – Dwarf firebush: Killed. No signs of life on the cut-back woody stems or at the roots.
- Hibiscus syriacus ‘Grewa’ – ‘White Angel’ Rose of Sharon: Completely unfazed and put out new leaves soon after the freeze.
- Hibiscus syriacus ‘Purple Pillar’ – ‘Purple Pillar’ Rose of Sharon: It releafed soon after the freeze, but the top half has only a few leaves. However I’m hopeful it will fully recover.
- Hydrangea quercifolia – Oakleaf hydrangea: Completely unfazed and put out new leaves soon after the freeze.
- Ilex vomitoria ‘Eureka Gold’ – ‘Eureka Gold’ dwarf yaupon holly*: Completely unfazed.
- Ilex vomitoria ‘Micron’ – ‘Micron’ dwarf yaupon holly*: Completely unfazed.
- Justicia spicigera – Mexican honeysuckle: Killed to the roots, but new growth is coming up.
- Lantana camara ‘Luscious Royale Cosmo’ – Lantana: Killed.
- Lantana urticoides – Texas lantana*: Stems are bare, and I can’t recall if there is any regrowth at the roots.
- Loropetalum chinense ‘Plum’ – Chinese fringeflower (east & west borders): All the leaves turned brown, but recently the bigger one (east side) began putting out new leaves on the upper branches. It’s very sparse, but I’m hopeful for a recovery. The other one looks dead. I haven’t pruned them and will keep watching.
- Loropetalum chinense ‘Rubrum’ – Chinese fringeflower (front-island bed): All the leaves turned brown, but recently it put out a few leaves. It’s extremely sparse, however, and I’m not convinced it will recover. I’ll keep watching and haven’t pruned it.
- Loropetalum chinense ‘Sizzling Pink’ – Chinese fringeflower (lower garden): Killed, I think. This was my biggest and most beautiful loropetalum. There are no signs of life on the branches or at the roots, only brown leaves.
- Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ – ‘Soft Caress’ mahonia: Killed to the ground, but new growth is slowly appearing at the roots of about half my plants. The others appear to be dead.
- Mahonia fortunei – Chinese mahonia: Killed back. My hedge of 7 plants immediately turned brown and held onto their dead leaves — not a good sign. But as of last week, sprigs of green leaves are appearing on some of the dead-looking stems. I hope they will eventually fully releaf. I’m waiting a while longer before doing any pruning.
- Mahonia x media ‘Marvel’ – ‘Marvel’ mahonia: Killed in a pot left outdoors.
- Mahonia trifoliolata – Agarita*: One branch at the top turned brown, and I cut it off. But the rest remains green, and it looks healthy.
- Malpighia glabra ‘Nana’ – Dwarf Barbados cherry*: Killed to the roots. There are a few small signs of green at the roots, but nothing vigorous. I’ve pruned it back by half (as usual) and am continuing to watch it.
- Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii – Turk’s cap*: Died back, as per normal. I cut it back hard, and it’s coming back quickly.
- Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii ‘Pam Puryear’ – Pam’s Pink Turk’s cap*: Died back, as per normal. I cut it back hard, and it’s coming back quickly.
- Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii ‘Alba’ – White Turk’s cap*: Died back, as per normal. I cut it back hard, and it’s coming back quickly.
- Malvaviscus x ‘Big Momma’ – ‘Big Momma’ Turk’s cap*: Died to the ground and slow to recover, but a few sprigs have recently appeared from the roots.
- Myrtus communis ‘Nana’ – Dwarf myrtle: Slowly went brown after the freeze and was killed to the roots. Sprigs of green soon appeared at the base, so I cut it back hard and am waiting to see if it can recover.
- Pavonia hastata – Pale pavonia: Killed. This one hurts, as I used it throughout my front garden because it thrives in shade, deer ignore it, and it’s semi-evergreen. It’s always a self-seeder, and seedlings are coming up. But no signs of life on the defoliated woody stems, which I cut back by half in late February as usual.
- Phlomis fruticosa – Jerusalem sage: Killed to the roots, but vigorous new growth is coming up. This should look decent again by midsummer.
- Phlomis lanata – Dwarf, or littleleaf, Jerusalem sage: Killed, but this plant never thrived anyway. I won’t replace.
- Pittosporum ‘Cream de Mint’: Killed to just below the snow line. A little new growth is struggling up at the roots, but the verdict is still out on this one.
- Podocarpus macrophyllus – Japanese yew: I planted this the week before the freeze and mulched it well. It got browned a bit but overall looks good. (For the record, mature specimens around town have died.)
- Podocarpus macrophyllus ‘Pringles Dwarf’ – ‘Pringles’ dwarf Japanese yew: I planted this the week before the freeze and mulched it well. It suffered significant browning but has new growth.
- Poliomintha longiflora – Mexican oregano: No discernable damage. Looks good.
- Punica granatum ‘Peppy Le Pom’ – ‘Peppy Le Pom’ dwarf pomegranate: Killed to the roots and is slowly putting out new growth.
- Rosa ‘Peggy Martin’ – ‘Peggy Martin’ rose, aka Katrina rose: Killed to the roots except for one cane with a few sprigs of green leaves. New growth is coming up quickly from the roots.
- Rosmarinus officinalis – Rosemary: Killed. I replaced my big, mature plant with a tiny, 1-gallon ‘Arp’ cultivar, which is said to be fairly cold hardy.
- Sabal minor – Texas dwarf palmetto*: No damage whatsoever, and it’s one of the few large “shrubs” that remained green.
- Salvia greggii – Autumn sage*: Died to the roots. I pruned it to the ground, and now it’s coming back quickly. Some have even started to bloom.
- Tecoma x ‘Orange Jubilee’ – Orange bells, or orange esperanza: Killed.
- Thuja orientalis ‘Franky Boy’ – ‘Franky Boy’ arborvitae: No damage and looks healthy. This is a novelty plant I’m trialing after seeing a striking mature specimen at Dallas Arboretum.
- Viburnum rufidulum – Rusty blackhaw viburnum*: I planted this a week before the freeze and covered it with a cardboard box. No damage whatsoever, and it bloomed soon after the thaw.
Up next are Perennials. For Trees, click here.
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