A good Hard Fost

This morning here in Nashville the weather man keeps talking about a “Hard Freeze”, and saying “It is the end of the growing season.”  What does that mean, the end of the growing season?  All of the leaves are off the trees already!

It is very simple.  A hard freeze is one that gets cold enough and the frost covers all of the ground to tell the plants it is winter and they need to go into hibernation.  At the point, the warm season grass, i.e. Bermuda, will no longer grow.  It will finish turning brown.  The cool season grasses, i.e. Fescue, will slow down and wait to see what the weather does next.

Plants like evergreen shrubs will stop trying to grow and just sit real pretty for the winter.  Any deciduous shrub, (which means the ones that loose their leaves), will finish loosing all their leaves and bud out for the spring.  Here in Nashville, the ground never fully freezes, so the plants are concentrating on developing a strong root system.

Any perennial plant, like Daylilies, Hosta, Blackeyed Susan, etc. will turn completely brown now and collapse their foliage to the ground.  It is ok to cut off all the foliage above ground and leave the roots for next year.  They put off new plants from the root system in the spring.

And Finally, any seasonal plant that has survived til now, i.e. petunias, begonias, salvia, boston ferns, etc. will now be brown as they can be and can be pulled up by the roots and thrown away.  They will not come back no matter what you do.  Yes, I have seen some vinca come back from seed the next year, but not this years plant!!

So, the news is right, “The end of the growing season!”  You can plant pansies for winter color, and Knockout roses will keep blooming until we get several good hard frost, but that is about it until spring.

Happy Frost