In the Garden: Lower South December, 2000 Regional Report  Share
|  Nandinas produce beautiful clusters of berries prized by
cedar waxwings in their annual migration.  Preventing A Freeze
Our lower-south winters consist of a series of brief and erratic
breaks in an otherwise long growing season that stretches from
fall to spring. We live between the northern zones, where there
is a REAL winter season each year, and the subtropics, where
freezing weather rarely if ever arrives. As a result, our
landscape includes many plants that are marginally hardy and
need some help to make it through an unusually cold winter.
Developing Hardiness  To develop maximum hardiness, our plants
need the weather to become progressively colder over time. Warm
days followed by a really cold snap are a recipe for serious
plant injury.  Each year as cold weather threatens, we go to
great (and often strange) lengths to safeguard our plants from
cold damage. Container plants are especially susceptible to a
bitter cold snap. To protect