In the Zone: An Article on Plant Growing Zones

Like gemstones, flowers can represent birthdays in each month of the year. Which one is yours? January: Carnation Carnations are the birth flowers for January. Different colors convey different meanings. White carnations symbolize pure love, while yellow means “wish you were here” and pink says, “you’re unforgettable.” Snowdrops, which indicate hope and beauty, are also flowers for this month. February: Iris and Violet February birthdays are represented by violets or irises, flowers that suggest loyalty and faithfulness. The three upright petals of an iris bloom can indicate courage, faith and wisdom, or friendship, hope and compliments. March: Daffodil Daffodils, sometimes called jonquils or narcissus, are the birth flowers for March. Because they often bloom in early spring, they symbolize new birth, beginnings, happiness and joy. April: Daisy and Sweet Pea Cheerful daisies represent April birthdays. While they often symbolize beauty, innocence, love or purity, they can also mean, “I’ll never tell.” Sweet peas are also birth flowers for April. May: Lily of the Valley Lilies of the Valley, with their sweet perfumes, celebrate May birthdays. They suggest humility and happiness. June: Rose Like carnations, roses, which represent June birthdays, have different meanings for different colors. Red roses signify love, while yellow ones indicate anything from jealousy to friendship. Orange or apricot roses mean desire and enthusiasm. July: Larkspur and Waterlily While pink larkspurs can symbolize a fickle love, purple ones mean first love, and white indicates a happy spirit. These pretty flowers are linked to July birthdays. Waterlilies, which stand for a pure and open heart, or majesty, also represent this month. August: Glads “Remember me” is the message of gladioli, birth flowers for August. The flowers can also mean strength and integrity, while the sword-shaped leaves suggest love-pierced hearts. In ancient times, glads were associated with magical powers. September: Aster Fall-blooming asters symbolize a strong and powerful love and are the birth flowers for September. They also indicate faith and wisdom. October: Marigold Marigolds, in their rich, autumnal colors, symbolize undying love and represent October birthdays. These pungent-smelling flowers can also mean “I’m thinking of you” or indicate sadness and sympathy. November: Mum Chrysanthemums, plants especially prized by Japanese gardeners, stand for November birthdays. White mums signify innocence and purity, while yellow ones indicate that a loved one feels slighted.  December: Narcissus, Holly, Poinsettia Several plants represent December birthdays, including narcissus (think forced bulbs), hollies and poinsettias. Hollies show a desire for a happy home, while poinsettias stand for good cheer.

HAPPY NEW {2026} YEAR! Brighten up the inside with houseplants! Beautiful selections in various shades of green and even colorful plants, like Cordyline, add some much needed winter color into your interior space while CLEANING THE AIR! Come check out our stocked greenhouse for the perfect purifier! Already have houseplants? Turn them halfway, so they don't grow too much toward the light. Click here to read about Gardening Trends for 2026! Click here to gain some ideas on your 2026 Gardening Resolutions! JANUARY TO DO LIST: -Dormant plants are ready to set in the ground, so it's time to plant things like roses, fruit trees and berries. -You can still plant cool season annuals, like the bright-colored pansies, to give all the color you need for winter. -Sow wildflower seeds, especially spring bloomers. Scatter now for a springtime bouquet. -Protect plants from frost by grouping the ones in containers close together on a porch or patio, or move them inside if possible. Cover tender plants that are rooted in the ground. -Turn off irrigation systems for mature landscapes, if not done already. Freshly planted landscapes, should be getting reduced water also, and will probably only need irrigation every 7-14 days, IF adequate precipitation is not received. January is typically rainy enough that no additional irrigation is required. -An exception to the no watering rule is directly before a hard freeze. Any freshly-planted transplant or cold-sensitive plant will be much more prone to freeze damage if it is dry to the point of wilting. It’s always a good idea to give the garden a light watering before sub-freezing temperatures are expected, especially if the weather has been dry. -Remove dead and damaged branches first on roses, then prune the canes back by 1/3 at a 45 degree angle, making cuts just above an outward facing bud. This can be done from now through Valentine's Day! -Remove old flowers from your cool-season bedding plants to extend blooming, and improve flower showing. -Prune summer flowering shrubs such as crape myrtles, althea and oleander. -Smother over-wintering pests by spraying with a dormant oil. Check the undersides of leaves on evergreen plants such as camellia, holly, and magnolia, and spray accordingly.

If you’ve noticed the sudden explosion of beautiful rose-pink flowers dotting the landscapes these past few weeks, you have witnessed one of the top-performing shrubs for Louisiana landscapes: ShiShi Gashira. This plant is often listed as Camellia sasanqua in the trade, but it is actually part of the Camellia hiemalis species. Named a Louisiana Super Plant in the fall of 2010, ShiShi Gashira has long been an outstanding shrub for the landscape, and its history goes back hundreds of years. According to the American Camellia Society, ShiShi Gashira originated in Ikeda City, Japan, where it was first mentioned in recorded history in 1894. It was featured in a nursery catalog as early as 1935. This shrub has been around for a long time, and its reliable beauty is why it is such a staple in the landscape. This evergreen, dwarf shrub has a profusion of rose-pink, semi-double blooms with golden-yellow centers on stems with dark green, glossy foliage in late fall through early winter. ShiShi Gashira makes an excellent selection as a foundation planting around houses because of its gorgeous green foliage that remains year-round. The winter bloom time brings beautiful color to the landscape as many of our other landscape plants are going dormant. ShiShi Gashira camellia shrubs can be grown as a focal piece of the landscape, planted en masse to create a stunning splash of color or grown closely together to create a colorful low hedge. They have a unique weeping form that can be used to create a beautiful backdrop or winter woodland garden setting. ShiShi Gashira grows at a moderate pace, reaching a mature size of 4 to 5 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. Older plantings — such as the specimens at the J.C. Miller horticulture building on the LSU campus — can reach heights of 6 or more feet. In general, camellias are a slow-growing shrub best suited for USDA hardiness zones 7 to 10. Unlike the traditional camellias from the Camellia japonica species that require filtered sun, ShiShi Gashiras grow well in full sun. Camellias prefer well-drained, acidic soils with a pH between 5.0 and 6.0. They pair well with companion plants that also prefer more acidic soils such as azaleas, Japanese maples, lily of the valley (pieris), rhododendrons and hydrangeas. You’ll often find camellias as an understory to pine trees, which thrive in acidic soils. In south Louisiana, alkaline soils can cause problems. In north Louisiana, flower buds are often damaged by colder temperatures. It is important to maintain a 2-to-3-inch layer of mulch year-round to prevent weeds, provide organic matter, help retain moisture and protected roots from intense summer heat. Water regularly when the top 3 inches of soil is dry. Older, established plants can live off rainfall and are a great deal more tolerant of full sun and drying winds. New plantings should be watered regularly, and one should consider installing irrigation. Younger plants are less tolerant of sun and winds. Fertilize with an azalea-camellia fertilizer or a complete fertilizer such as 13-13-13 in late winter before new growth begins. Camellias, like most flowering shrubs, should be pruned immediately after they have finished blooming. This allows the shrub time to form new growth and flower buds before the next cycle of bloom. Pruning does not have to be done annually, just as needed. While camellias don’t have any major disease problems, tea scale is a common insect pest of flowering camellias. Scales are small insects that attach themselves to the leaves, mainly at the midrib of the leaf, and extract plant juices. In the spring, the next generation of scales hatch from their eggs. Known as crawlers, these young scales eventually attach themselves to the undersides of leaves. Adult scales are very resistant to insecticides. Treat early in the crawler stage. Apply insecticides so that they cover the bottom surface of the leaves. Repeat treatments may be needed with heavy infestations. Light to moderate infestations can be treated with oil sprays when temperatures are cool so as not to burn the plants. It may take two to three years to bring heavy infestation under control. Every landscape should feature a camellia of some sort (in my humble opinion). There is no limit to the opportunities, with more than 200 species and 20,000 varieties of camellias available. Camellia flowers come in all sorts of colors from white, red, pink and variegated varieties with several different flower forms. Individual blooms are relatively large — up to 5 inches across — and come in many forms: single, semi-double, formal double, peony, anemone and rose forms. The blooming opportunities seem endless, and they are a wonderful cut flower to be enjoyed indoors and shared with loved ones. View ShiShi Camellia Here! Article by LSU Ag Center. Visit online here.

Turn to these sensational flowers and plants for winter interest. Cabbages and Kales Ornamental kale and cabbage are some of the most popular winter annual plants. They lend a completely different texture to a winter landscape bed. Once the plants are hardened by cooler night temperatures they can survive most cold winters. Camellias Camellias prefer acidic, moist yet well-drained soil that is high in organic matter. They flower in the fall, winter or early spring when their display of colorful blooms is most appreciated. The waxy-petalled flowers linger long on plants, displaying shades of red, pink, coral, white and bicolors. Plants are evergreen, growing to form shrubs or small trees. Once established, camellias are drought-tolerant. Holly Bush Hollies bring an eye-catching display of evergreen leaves that is often punctuated with bright red or gold berries. Japanese Maples Japanese maples often have artistically shaped trunks. The contorted branches on this shrub or small tree come into focus as winter arrives. Nandina Nandina shows off its berries in our usual milder winters. Tuck these plants in front of solid backdrops so the berries can shine. Pansy These are our winter’s favorite and festive annual. Showing off in all colors, these open-faced flowers are ready for cold weather. They look just as good planted in one color as they do mixed with many colors. Add in Blood Meal for a lasting bloom fertilizer. Cyclamen Ideal for a shady area that needs cool-season color, Cyclamen bloom in white, red, pink, purple and some with two-tones. Their leaves are just as striking with silver markings that can be stand-alone interest when the plant isn’t blooming. Petunia Petunias have bright blooms we are all familiar with, and they are annuals that thrive in night temps between 55-65 degrees F and day temps between 61-80 degrees F. While they are beautiful for our “normal” mild winter temperatures, they will succumb to temperatures below 40 degrees F so will need to be protected in the event of a freeze. Lemon Ball Sedum This lime-green trailing succulent-like favorite is a pop of color for containers in winter. It does well in our springs and summers, and tolerates the cold just fine until temperatures dip freezing. Many people plant these in containers that can be easily covered or brought into a warmer space should a freeze take place. Chinese Fringe/Loropetalum These shrubs can be in dwarf or full size for a pop of purple in your landscape all winter. Enjoy the evergreen color foliage, an eggplant shade of purple, which mixes in well with the shades of greens your landscape populates. From mid-March through mid-April, fun fringe-like bright pink blooms appear! Magnolia Tree Why not plant Louisiana’s state flower to enjoy its evergreen and stately foliage and form, as well as those iconic blooms? These charming trees pair nicely next to the homes built in our Acadiana area, and the blooms can be used in your table arrangements as cut flowers. There is a smaller variety than the “BIG GUY” we see in parks: the Little Gem. These only reach a fraction of the size and are not a threat to your slab by being planted in landscape beds. They mature to 15-20’ tall by 7-10’ wide, and take their time reaching that by growing about a foot per year. Please note- All Seasons may or may not have these plants in stock available to purchase at the time you come to purchase these. If you're ever looking for something specific, please call the garden center at 337.264.1418 or send an email question via this link prior to your shopping visit!

When we think of resolutions for 2026, we immediately think of losing weight, being more organized; or quitting smoking. Why not make a resolution for better gardening/better garden planning, attract pollinators, grow for cut flowers in your home, grow to eat or cook with herbs, record keeping, getting the kids to plant and care for edibles or flowers, etc.? You could even resolve to have a completely new outdoor look for your new year! All Seasons customizes landscaping and outdoor living like no one else in Acadiana. If you resolve for a pool, patio, outdoor kitchen, new plants, or anything- we can help you reach your 2026 goal! Here are some ideas to get the ground broken: 1. Resolve to not blame yourself for gardening failures last year. Try again and learn from experience! Call on us to help ensure your success! 2. Resolve not to be afraid to ask questions. How else can you learn? Take advantage of us being here for you; we're happy to help you through to gardening success. 3. Resolve to try new plants. Try a new growing style or a completely new crop of vegetable. Garden out of your comfort zone! We always stock interesting plants year-round to keep you garden interesting (or edible!) When the weather is too cold to venture outside, plan your garden from your sofa. Search our online database of plants here via our Plant Finder tool, and email us your list . Here is a link to the Plant Finder. 4. Resolve to share your passion for gardening and landscaping. Be a mentor for someone else. Wouldn't it be amazing to be the reason your neighbor plants a window box for the first time? Perhaps you could even become a Louisiana Master Gardener! 5. Resolve to try a new trend. Here is a list to some of this year’s gardening trends. You can try interior plants or plant things with bold foliage. 6. Resolve to embrace nature and garden for the birds, bees, butterflies. Plan flowers and vegetables with them in mind, sit back and enjoy the show! 7. Resolve to invest in nice pottery pieces, and change out plants seasonally for a fresh new look all year. 8. Resolve to ENJOY your garden. Take a stroll each morning or evening, cut flowers and stick them in a vase to bring indoors. Take photos to print and hang around the house. Host your children’s or grandchildren’s birthday party or graduation. 9. Resolve to spend more time outside. Relax on a nice bench, or hang a swing or hammock. Create a shady area to be comfortable in summertime by planting a shade tree or building a small pergola. 10. Resolve to finally put in that swimming pool, outdoor kitchen, and/or landscaping you've always wanted. We offer FREE consultations to design your new backyard that will melt your stress in 2026. Contact our Landscaping Services Department this New Year!

Gardening has always been a popular pastime, and a healthy habit for many. The trend has continued to “grow” year after year, and this New Year we anticipate more people to DIG IT! Plant Cool Tones like the Pantone Color of the Year: Cloud Dancer This year’s color of the year is a soft white, which was chosen for its “calming, serene qualities as a ‘blank canvas’ for quiet reflection in a noisy world.” The Pantone article also states that the “natural hue signifies peace, simplicity, and a return to fundamental comfort.” Plants have a similar effect on us. They bring us peace and a sense of that back to nature feel without the noise and chaos of a busy world around us. Plant flowers with a white bloom to bring you the feeling of calm to your landscape/containers. Interior Plants to Clean the Air Interior plants benefit your indoor air quality, including purifying the air, as well as boost your mood. Gone are the trends for artificial dust-covered ferns on the bathroom windowsill, and in are English Ivy, which is an air purifier plant and ideal for the germs covered on bathroom counters. Growing Up Climbing plants for arbors, fences, pavilions, walls, even mailboxes, adds a whimsical essence to an outdoor space- especially if you enjoy hosting outdoor events. There are many plants that make excellent specimens for a vertical garden- such as confederate jasmine, which has a sweet fragrance; clematis, Peggy Martin rose, blackberries, and more! Growing Food in your Kitchen Kitchen counters are being decluttered of appliances and replaced with containers of herbs, lettuce bowls and any other greens we home chefs like to add in meals. Even in kitchens lacking adequate sunlight, a grow light can easily give your select flavorful plants the right nutrients they need to thrive. Vitamin rich micro greens and medicinal herbs are being grown with ease. Just plant, pick and add to your plate! Drought-Tolerate Plants While cacti and succulents are trendy additions to a low-water garden, the options don’t stop there! If you want to plant some things that can take time without water, there are other selections with lush, leafy foliage and vibrant blooms, such as: black eye Susan, lantana, some grasses, lavender, purslane, yarrow and more! Golden Tones Gold is the new black. Gold or yellow foliage in plants are gaining popularity. For outdoors, the Sunshine Ligustrum keeps trending for those who enjoy a bold yellow evergreen foliage alongside the traditional greens. Rising sun redbud has yellow leaves which change to shades of orange in fall that is simply stunning in a front or backyard. For indoors, Neon Pothos and other gold-tone plants brighten up the otherwise dim spaces inside your home. Planting an Evergreen Fence Line Planting tall and bushy evergreen shrubs like Sweet Viburnum, Sweet Olive and Little Gem Magnolias give a boundary easier on the eyes then fence boards, which bring your mind at ease in nature. Many people put up a fence and plant their natural border along the fence to give the look while still keeping the puppy contained! Pollinator & Wildlife Friendly Gardens Planting a space dedicated to attracting butterflies, bees and birds have been on many people’s “To Do List.” We always have customers wanting to know what attracts pollinators. The added benefit are these plants provide lots of color to an area so you and a feathered friend will enjoy! Also on the rise are the beneficial insect homes for butterflies, lady bugs and bees. With the honey bee reaching the endangered animal list, alternate pollinators are more important than ever. Plant flowers they like to attract them and then offer them a home. Your garden will reward you. Bold Foliage Expect plants with big, bold, and unique foliage to be the talk of conversation this year. This trend owes a lot to the growing popularity of the Monstera deliciosa, “Swiss Cheese Plant” which has eye-catching natural leaf holes that make your house guests always ask what it is. This year, the likes of banana plants, birds of paradise and other bold-leaf statement makers are the next “It Plants.” Low-Maintenance Beauty Everyone stays busy these days, and while we would love to spend endless hours in our garden, life’s “must-dos” present a challenge for that. Planting things that will bring you beauty without costing you time is a top trend. We have MANY options of low-maintenance selections, so visit with an associate at the garden center to find your favorites!  Native Plants Louisiana has vibrant native plants to offer, and planting them has a built in success rate since they naturally thrive in our unique climate. Consider the purple Louisiana Iris for areas that tend to stay soggy in your yard, or the Henry Garnet Sweetspire to attract butterflies. Growing Edibles in Containers We love the farm-to-table trend, and many gardeners still plant in-ground vegetable beds and have an orchard of citrus and fruit trees. However, a trend we’re seeing is people wanting to know what they can plant that’s edible in a container. Something to know before you grow is the container you are choosing needs to be at least twice the size of the plant you are choosing. There are many options- from lemons to blueberries- and we can share with you all the details when you come into the garden center to DIG IT.

Keep your plants safe from frost by using winter plant covers. These chill-chasing covers give plants a cozy hideaway that’s warmer than surrounding air. The difference is often only a few degrees, but those degrees make a big difference. Protecting plants from freezes isn’t difficult. One of the most common winter plant covers is a frost blanket or floating row cover that you toss over plants before a freeze arrives. Frost blankets work by excluding cold air and creating an insulating air pocket around plants. Heat from soil, which is warmer than air, is trapped beneath the blanket and held near plants. These cold-defeating fabrics are made from a woven polypropylene that’s lightweight and breathable. The material allows sunlight and water to reach plants, but keeps frost out. Most of these winter plant covers are also UV-stabilized. This means the materials won’t break down quickly when exposed to sunlight and can be used for several growing seasons. Frost blankets come in varying thicknesses. Thicker blankets protect plants to a greater degree than thinner ones. Thicker blankets also exclude more light. Thinner frost blankets typically protect plants to 28° F and permit 70 percent of sunlight to reach plants. Thicker blankets protect plants from 24 to 26° F and allow 30 percent of sunlight to reach plants. It’s most economical to purchase frost blanket rolls 20 to 100 feet long, 6 or 12 feet wide. Cut the fabric into custom sizes, and sew pieces together as needed to form larger blankets. Although frost blankets can lie directly on plants, you’ll get the best protection when you create a framework that holds the winter plant covers above plants. Build a temporary or permanent framework using flexible PVC pipes slid over pieces of rebar driven into the ground. Or drape the blanket over short wire garden fencing. Using materials you have on hand is the secret to creating an inexpensive support system. When using a frost blanket, be sure to anchor the edges to exclude all cold air. Hold edges down with landscape pins, bricks, lumber or other available materials. Or bury edges in a shallow trench, anchoring them with soil.

Expected cold weather often brings concern about protecting landscape plants during frosts and freezes. The best approach to protecting plants in winter is to pay attention to the weather forecasts and try to know a couple days ahead of time when a freeze is approaching. When preparing for colder temperatures, it’s important to keep in mind frosts and freezes are different. And weather conditions prior to a freeze or frost play a role in how these temperatures affect plants. If the first cold event is a freeze, landscape plants will suffer more damage. If several cold fronts move through the state and produce several frosts prior to a freeze, we will see less negative impact to plants that normally show damage. To prepare plants for a freeze, thoroughly water them if the soil is dry. This is especially important for container-grown plants. Shrubs in landscape beds also can be helped with irrigation prior to a freeze. It’s best, however, to make sure your shrubs received adequate irrigation or rain throughout fall. Strong, dry winds that frequently accompany cold fronts may cause damage by drying plants out, and watering helps to prevent this. Wetting plant leaves before a freeze does not, however, provide any cold protection. If cold weather is in the forecast, move all tender plants in containers and hanging baskets into buildings where the temperature will stay above freezing. If this is not possible, group container plants in a protected area, like the inside corner of a covered patio, and cover them with plastic. For plants growing in the ground, mulch them with a loose, dry material such as pine straw or leaves. Mulches will only protect what they cover and are best used to protect below-ground parts and crowns. Mulches also may be used to completely cover low-growing plants to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. But don’t leave a complete cover of mulch on for more than three or four days. Larger plants can be protected by creating a simple structure and covering it with fabric or plastic. The structure keeps the cover from touching the foliage, preventing broken branches and improving cold protection. It doesn’t need be anything more elaborate than driving three stakes slightly taller than the plant into the ground. The cover should extend to the ground and be sealed with soil, stones or bricks. Plastic covers should be vented or removed on sunny, warm days. For severe freezes when temperatures dip into the teens, providing a heat source under the covering helps. A safe, easy way to do this is to generously wrap or drape the plant with small outdoor Christmas lights. The lights provide heat but do not get hot enough to burn the plant or cover. Be careful and use only outdoor extension cords and sockets. If necessary, you may prune a large plant to make its size more practical to cover. Keep in mind that your cool-season bedding plants are adapted to the normal cold winter temperatures, so cold protection typically is not needed. Article by LSU Ag Center. Visit online here.

Most Louisiana landscapes can fool us into believing we live in the tropics. It’s true that some winters are mild and tropical plants survive, but severe freezes do occur and can be devastating to those tropicals in the landscape. All it takes is one night in the low 20s or teens to severely damage or kill many of the bright and beautiful tropicals. There’s no need stop planting tropicals in landscapes, but the best idea is to mix them with hardy plants so in the event of a severe freeze, the entire landscape is not wiped out. Tropicals will always be the most popular flowers and dramatic foliage for our intense summers. They just need to be protected when the temperatures drop. What are Hardy vs Tender plants? These two terms are used to describe a plant’s ability to tolerate the cold. If a plant will survive with no damage when the temperatures are 32 degrees and below, it’s a Hardy Plant. The level of hardiness varies by plant. Some plants can tolerate 15 degrees while a less hardy one may be damaged at 25 degrees. Commonly used Louisiana landscape plants (trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines & lawns) are generally hardy to 10-15 degrees, and won’t typically die in our winters. These hardy plants do not need much protection other than perhaps some mulch. Tender plants are those that are severely damaged or killed when temperatures are below 32 degrees. When these plants are left out without protection, even on nights when there is a brief temperature drop, there is a risk for damage. Many tender plants may survive by coming back from their lower trunk, roots, crown, or bulbs. Plant parts below the soil surface typically survive since our ground does not freeze. To assist both hardy and tender plants in the event of an oncoming freeze, make sure good care is given during the summer. Pruning and fertilizing trees, shrubs and ground covers should be avoided after September because it can stimulate late growth. How much damage occurs to a tender plant during a freeze can be a factor of where the plant is in the landscape. Place them in a more sheltered area that blocks the north wind and traps the sun’s heat. Planting in areas covered with overhang and tree canopies will also help. What are the types of freezes? Freezes can be characterized as radiational or advective. Radiational freezes occur on clear, calm nights. These freezes are considered generally light and mainly damage the foliage of tender plants, like tropicals. Covering plants during this type of freeze will significantly reduce damage. In an advective freeze, a drastic temperature drop occurs and windy conditions are normal. The temperatures tend to be very low, and will last longer, thus making protecting tender plants more difficult. Freezes that last 8 hours or more are particularly damaging. Frost- 30-32 degrees Plants will have little or no damage Light Freeze - 28-30 degrees Plants will have light damage, mostly to foliage Hard Freeze- mid 20s temps This will kill most tropical plants, and damage other tender plants Severe Freeze- low 20s temps This will most likely bring major damage or kill all tropical plants Catastrophic Freeze-temps in teens This will most likely kill most tropical plants What to do before a freeze? Water- If the soil is dry, water landscape plants thoroughly to help them deal better with the cold. Cold weather is often side-by-side with strong, dry wind. That wind may dry a plant out, causing damage. Watering helps prevent that. Cover- Smaller plants can be covered with cardboard boxes, and larger plants can be covered with fabric or another breathable material. The cover should extend to the ground and be sealed with stones or bricks. Any covering should be vented or removed on sunny days. During advective freezes, covering will need to be paired with a warm source, such as wrapping small Christmas lights around the base of plants. For plants that are too large to cover completely, wrap at least the trunk with an insulating material such as foam rubber or blankets. Even if the top of the plant dies, the plant may regrow from the surviving trunk. For palm trees, the trunk must be wrapped from the ground level to the base of the leaves. Mulch- Use a dry, loose material like pine straw or leaves. Note that mulch only protects what it covers. For example, mulch at the base of a bird-of-paradise will help protect the roots, but not the foliage. Mulch can be left at the plant’s base all winter. Move Inside- Move all tender plants in containers/hanging baskets into a warmer (above freezing) area, such as patio corner or garage. If plants remain outside, cover. If taken inside, provide as much light as possible.  What to do after a freeze? Move container plants back outside unless they will be inside for the winter. Remove any cover from plants to prevent excessive heat buildup if the next day is sunny. If a freeze occurs two or more nights in a row, the cover does not have to be completely removed, but air and light should be received by the plants. Do not prune anything for a week or more after a freeze. After a week, damaged growth or dead foliage on herbaceous plants may be pruned. If any tissue is oozy, mushy, slimy or stinks it should be removed. Make sure to prune prior to the spring, so any new growth is able to appear. Try scratching the bark of any plant with your fingernail. If the tissue underneath is green, it’s still alive. If it is brown, the branch is dead. Start at the top and work your way down to see how far the plant was killed. Remove all dead branches.