Question:
My Potato Vine and Bougainvillea suffered from frost in the recent cold spells. Most of the leaves have fallen off, so they look terrible. Is there anything I can do now to help them grow back?
Answer:
It’s not unusual for Potato Vines and Bougainvillea to be damaged from frost and freezing temperatures during the winter. The cold will burn the leaves and or kill the plants. Cold acts as a desiccant pulling moisture from the plant tissue while a freeze causes the cell walls to rupture. As a result of these damaged cell walls, the plant defrosts too quickly, killing leaves and stems. Cold injury is more likely to occur the longer the temperature stays below thirty-two degrees after the sun rises. Right now, the recommendation is to do nothing. There is the possiblity of more cold temperatures going forward. Instead, I’d wait until the danger of frost is over which is around March 15. You could also scratch the bark to see if it’s green. This would indicate that the plant is still alive. Personally, I’d still wait longer until you see some new growth developing. At this time that I prune off all the dead growth and fertilizer with Dr Earth Organic All Purpose plant food to encourage the new growth.
Question:
After pruning my roses, is there any special winter fertilizer I should feed my bushes?
Answer:
There is no special winter fertilizer for roses. With the advent of the rose care products from Bayer or Bonide, you can now combine a fertilizer along with an insect and or disease control in a single application for the first feeding. Depending on what you choose to use, you would wait until March to apply. The other option is to apply Rose Food starting after the President Day holiday and repeating it monthly through October. For container roses, I prefer Osmocote, as it’s a time release product that release a little bit of nutrients with every watering and is reapplied every four months. You would then treat the Aphids and other insect problems along with Rust, Mildew and Black Spot separately. Hence, there are many right answers as to what to do and use.
