Agriculture Department

Chesapeake Master Gardener Tips

December 2000

Virginia Cooperative Extension, Chesapeake Office

Baby It’s Cold Outside!

Old man winter has decided to pay us a visit and we need to have our landscapes and gardens prepared for the cold. Here are some helpful hints for dealing with cold and frost protection in your gardens.

If you have not gotten that layer of mulch down in the plant beds and around the landscape, now is the time to do it. The mulch layer insulates the roots of your plants and bulbs in the soil, helping to protect from the cold. Remember your mulch should not be more than 4 inches deep and should not be up against the trunks and bases of you trees and shrubs. Keeping the mulch away from the trunks and bases helps to prevent insect and disease problems in the future.

We have experienced some hard frosts and snow, but not destructive or killing frosts. Because the plants have gone into dormancy for the winter the frosts we have had may burn back tender new growth but will do little permanent damage. Killing frosts usually occur in the late spring, once the plants have broken dormancy.

If you have not gotten that layer of mulch down in the plant beds and around the landscape, now is the time to do it. The mulch layer insulates the roots of your plants and bulbs in the soil, helping to protect from the cold. Remember your mulch should not be more than 4 inches deep and should not be up against the trunks and bases of you trees and shrubs. Keeping the mulch away from the trunks and bases helps to prevent insect and disease problems in the future.

Houseplants should already be inside. Any you still have outside will have been damaged by the recent cold weather. Depending upon the plant, the top growth may be killed back but the roots may still be alive. Just check the roots to see if you have lost the plant completely.

Cold weather and frost will often “touch” blooming plants causing the flowers to whither but the plant will not be harmed in the long run.

Covering susceptible plants protects them from the frost but are not insulators against the cold. If you cover a plant, you need to make sure you remove the covering before the sun hits the plant the next day. A cover on the plant in the sunshine can do more damage by “cooking” the plant than the frost would have. In colder climates, blankets of snow often act as insulators for the plants and plant beds.

Some gardeners use “walls of water” and wax paper screens around especially tender plants. The water releases heat as it freezes giving a little insulation against the cold for the plant

Now let’s talk about preparing for the holidays. Plants can be wonderful additions to the holiday decorations, but you need to care for them once you get them home. Here are suggestions from the Chesapeake Master Gardeners and Virginia Cooperative Extension for selecting and caring for your holiday plants.

• Poinsettia plants are the typical display for the holidays. Poinsettia plants are not considered to be poisonous, so you can feel confident using them in your home. Now you can find them in many colors, sizes, and even with different shaped “flowers” such as those of “Christmas Rose”. Generally the poinsettias purchased for holidays are considered disposable. What you see as the color on a poinsettia is actually the bracts and not flowers. You should look for well-shaped compact plants with uniform bract color. You want to pick plants that still have the yellow flowers (in the center of the bracts) tightly closed. Once you get one home, this is how to take care of your plant.
  • Place it in a sunny location, protected from drafts or chills. Keep the soil evenly moist but well drained.
  • Leaves will drop eventually, so when they do cut plant back to two buds on the stem and reduce watering. Keep the plant in a cool place to rest.
  • In late spring you can place the plant outside in a sunny location. If you want to use the plant next Christmas, cut it back in the summer or it will be rather large and leggy for inside use
  • You can make cuttings in late summer, just make sure the pieces you root have at least 4 joints.
  • To make a poinsettia bloom again, they need long nights so you should start in October. Put them in a closet each night for 14 hours of no light. They should be getting no more than 10 hours of sunlight daily during this time and you continue this for 10 weeks. Then place the plants under regular house conditions and you should get bract color for Christmas.
• Christmas cacti are not typical cacti, in nature they actually live in trees like orchids. They like rich porous soil and fertilizer while in their growth and flowering stages.
  • To keep them blooming longer, reduce watering and keep in full sun at around 70 degrees room temperature
  • If you want to make one bloom, they need long nights and cool night temperatures, so place them in 12-14 hours of darkness, 50-55 degree temperatures during the month of November.
  • If the buds drop and stems shrivel, you have probably kept the plant too dry and the roots have been damaged
• Amaryllis is a bulb plant, typically used at Easter, however they are becoming more popular for the Christmas holidays
  • Usually purchased in the bulb form, but can be in any stage of development.
  • Place in a warm, sunny location and do not fertilize until after flowering
  • The soil should be kept on the dry side
  • It usually takes 4 weeks from bulb to flowering
  • The plant will be more compact and healthier if kept in tropical conditions, high light & warm temperature

If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact the Chesapeake Extension staff at (757) 382-6348/TDD (800) 828-1120 during business hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to discuss accommodations 5 days prior to the event.

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, veteran status, national origin, disability, or political affiliation. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. J. David Barrett, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; Lorenza W. Lyons, Administrator, 1890 Extension Program, Virginia State, Petersburg.