Released from the fiery grip of summer heat, we move into the chilly embrace of fall and winter weather. Plant lovers will want to take extra care of their flora as the weather turns colder. Reporter Heather Clisby has details…
The thermostat is dropping and while it is easy for humans to bundle up, how can a plant protect itself? Though infrequent, should a freeze warning arise, you’ll want to pull in those plant container plants for the night.
For plants in the ground, the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) recommends wrapping them with newspaper or an old bed sheet and fully covering the plant so that ground heat is fully captured. Remove the protection once the weather gets above freezing – they need sun.
MDLT says fall and winter are prime for planting native plants due to milder temperatures with some hopes of rainfall. Once the native plants are established, they should easily tolerate weather extremes.
Cold damage to plants usually occurs at 28 degrees Fahrenheit or below over a five-hour period. Younger plants and new seedlings are more vulnerable and can be harmed with temperatures at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Water your plants the day before temperatures are expected to drop. This pre-freeze hydration not only protects roots from freezing, but also for getting new plants established. MDLT recommends watering new plants thoroughly once a week through the first fall and winter.
Cold weather will trigger dormancy in winter-deciduous plants, such as:desert willow, desert olive, honey mesquite, screwbean mesquite, and catclaw acacia, which will drop their leaves. Milkweed, coyote melon, and salt heliotrope, will die back. Low desert plants, such as palo verde, jojoba, and smoke tree, are sensitive to the cold so if you have planted these here in the Basin, protect those plantings this winter.
