After days of cold weather, I finally went outside last week to check on the plants. Those in pots under the sheets under the patio looked OK - the hibiscus plants fared the worst.
But the winner is the white alyssum - wasn't even fazed - and wasn't covered either. It was started from seed over a year ago and it went through the hot summer and now a cold winter.

'And give a little credit to your green thumb!

Plants that look good so far (we were down to 18F):
salvia greggii (4 different plants)
fennel (green and bronze)
yarrow
rue
catmint (not even fazed)
lemon balm (couple burnt leaves but overall ok)
white passionvine

Plants that look bad:
satsuma orange tree (was under cover, leaves are curled)
almond verbena (hoping it puts out new leaves)
esperanza
salvia (black & blue)
morning glory bush
passionvines (incense, red, pink)
sky vine
trumpet vine

I'm leaving most things to rest and see what puts out new growth. Otherwise it'll be a nice plant shopping trip for me and my mom this spring!

Sometimes I have difficulty telling the difference between what looks awful and what is really dead. I've got quite a few that are native that look like hell, but i'm hoping the roots are fine and with some late winter pruning??? I expected the Esperanza to look rough, but the Turk's Cap, Cupheas, Flame Acanthus, Chile Pequin and Shrimp Plants look terrible.

SG and Gregg's Mist are mostly fine - interesting I've got some lavender thats as green as its ever been.

I did cover my Satsuma Orange, Meyer Lemon and Arbequina Olives. The olives look good but the citrus...Satsuma also has rolled leaves. Meyer Lemon looks a little worse.

I am very grumpy during the winter...

ricelg said:

I am very grumpy during the winter...

You are not alone! Same here...

My Satsuma (Miho), Meyer lemon and Kumquat all did fine. I also have an Arbequina olive tree in a large container. It was not covered and shows no ill effects.

Although I hate to loose any plants, it could be the way to thin the crop. I didn't run the heat in the greenhouse and monitored the GH temperature which dipped into the low 30s a few times. Some of the plants show yellowing leaves but most of them look great like they are breathing a sigh of relief after this past summer.

Time will tell but I'll bet most of our outdoor plants will survive.

What puzzles me is that I have 2 plants that barely survived the summer and 'fall' (however that's defined) and suddenly perked up with the cold weather. Many times I thought they were dead but threw a little water on them if I was passing by. I was pretty ticked off because these plants were supposed to love the heat and bloom all summer. What are they? Have a look. Pictures were taken Dec. 23.

Texas Betony


and

Verbena 'Homestead Purple'




Just look at these leaves!


Have to admit that I haven't looked at them since we had our annual ice storm on New Year's. But they still looked more alive then when I bought them.

It got into the 20s here on the coldest night. I forgot to cover my three Natchez crape myrtles, planted in September, on that night, and their leaves are all dead now. I hope they're OK otherwise. My two 2-year-old "double white" bougainvilleas, which were covered in a tent made of several sheets that night, look similarly rough.

Most of the rest of my stuff is in containers & went in the garage (except the narcissi, one of which just poked leaves above the soil surface).

Isn't it amazing at this miserable time of year to see the Narcissus and Daffodils popping up, bright green and shaking off the frost. Mine should be in bloom within 30 days. C'mon Springtime...

OMG. It's about 60F now and by this evening it might snow. And then the weather is supposed to be fine tomorrow. Think I'd better hustle.

@tx_flower_child Thats funny. I noticed the same thing with my Betony. I had decided that I had probably killed it by giving it too much sun and was going to see if I could transplant what was left...then I started getting new growth. It looks almost as good as when it was first planted now. Maybe I'll try and move in early spring?

Yeah - forecast is for more plant covering Saturday night. That plus the Cedar pollen crushing me is (temporarily) dimming my energy for gardening right now. When I mentioned that to the wife, she pointed to all the seedlings on the grow rack and living room space that has been (temporarily) re-homed for sensitive plants...

I am totally amazed by the white alyssum. I can't even get it to grow in the spring or summer.

Turk's Cap, Flame Acanthus and Chile Pequin die back up here but will return in the Spring or Summer. When I was new to my house and hadn't planted much, I had some yard guys who mowed down my fairly large Turk's Cap. I didn't see it until after they left. I was freaked! But by summer it had bushed out bigger than ever. Was eyeballing it this afternoon and the baby ones I've planted. Just a bunch of dead leaves on them. Don't know if or when I should cut them back.
Granted, I've seen much bigger ones, but here's a picture of it from August 2016.



and from another angle




This one is 2 years old. Picture is kind of blurry.



Have a few that are maybe a year old. Anyway, all are down to sticks and stems and dead leaves. I don't bother to cover them. They'll be back. Same with my Flame Acanthus except it doesn't have a single leaf on it. My Salvia Greggii still has some leaves. Wonder if the leaves will stick around after this cold spell. Not worried about the plant itself. That's why native perennials are so great.

Thanks, @tx_flower_child that is very reassuring...

Those are some healthy looking Turk's Cap shrubs!

Thanks. They are pretty much on their own. I'll water the young ones but it's a rare occasion when I water the big one. Rarely feed any of them altho they might like it if I do. Actually put some mulch around them this afternoon. Or rather, a helper did. I don't remember if there was enough to get some around the big one but I know the little ones got mulched. Or I think they did.

One nice thing about Turk's Cap is that it's not very picky about how much sun it gets. Of course it's nice that the pollinators like it. I know that hummers do but I'm rarely out when they're around.

@bubbles and tx_flower-child,
it wasn't anything I did - just tossed out the alyssum seeds and they came up. This clump was left on its own with some watering throughout the summer and they did so well. Had another clump in another spot but it didn't do as well. Noticed babies coming up in that area so I'll have more of these lovelies. And they smell so, so good!

The angel trumpets and firespikes are toast but hopefully they will come back in spring. The turk's cap have some leaves left.
My Homestead verbena is surviving the cold, too; they look really good. But I did take cuttings just in case they didn't make it.

The paperwhites are popping up too @pod. Some of the amaryllises and liliums are doing well.

We have sun today , after a week of cloudy days, and a rainy night with 20 mi. winds.

@piksihk when did you through out the seeds and for the ones that are doing well, what kind of sun/shade conditions would you say they are in?

Good questions, Teacup! I've never had super luck with alyssum in Arizona. I love it and have tried many times.

Well, yesterday it was so nice out I finally gave in to cleaning out some of the dead stuff in my flower beds. Lots of things are still looking green under the thick cover of oak leaves I have as unintentional mulch. I'm leaving them there for now in case another cold snap decides to show up.

@TX_hoya said "Well, yesterday it was so nice out". Well, it was here and I decided to soak the 3 rescue orchids and leave them out to drip dry. And forgot them. Then today I looked and wondered what that string of plants were? Then I remembered. The temp when I got up this a.m. was 30F. I think the prognosis is not good. That's how I cut back on the number of plants to care for, I guess.

My GH got down to 31 because the weather forecast was a little off (supposed to be 40), and my seedlings seem to have survived the chill. Maybe it wasn't that cold for too long? Hopeful thinking