Watering in Cold Weather?

We have been having weather in the low to mid 20's the last few nights. Obviously things like Hibiscus and Bougainvillea are at risk in this kind of weather.

What many people do not know is that other evergreen plants like azaleas, bottlebrush, pandorea are also at risk. Even very hardy plants can be damaged by weather that drops into the 20's and goes up to the 40's or 50's.

what can happen is that the frosting process forces moisture out of the foliage and the warming temps evaporates it of the foliage. The plant needs to replace it and if the plant is dry it can be damaged by freezing. Check out your garden during this kind of weather and be sure to thoroughly soak anything that might be dry. Especially check out plants in containers!

A warning.

If you check during the period the soil is frozen you can't tell and when it first thaws the freezing brings moisture to the surface and can make the surface look like it is moist when the soil below is dry. Check down a few inches to be sure!

At the nursery I noticed some primroses wilted next to others that look fine. The wilted ones were dry and the wilting was czused by the cold weather.

We check the nursery at least every 2 days during this kind of weather