Now that the freezing temperatures are past, there are palms, plants, and trees all over the county that are bronze or brown, wilted, and looking bad. The cold temperatures we received earlier this month qualify as a hard freeze, which are temperatures of 28°F or lower that last for at least 1 to 3 hours. For those on South Merritt Island or the beaches, your temperatures may have been in the light freeze range (32°F to 29°F), but that is still cold enough to kill sensitive plants.

Now that the damage has been done, what should you do? It is important not to rush into things, so continue to wait until mid-March to start pruning plants, unless the plant has wet, mushy tissue. The damaged tissue should be trimmed off, back to solid, firm tissue. It is important to water your yard and container plants, as we are also in a drought. And since we have experienced very windy weather, watering is even more important, especially for plants in full sun.

For those with brown banana trees, feel the stalks; if they are solid, the brown leaves can be pruned off. New foliage and fruit should be produced this summer. If there are bananas present on a stalk, cut that stalk off 6-30” above the ground, because that stalk will not produce any more bananas. Chop the stalks into smaller pieces and lay them on the ground as mulch to release nutrients.

One reason many of the plants are experiencing problems with cold temperatures is that they are better suited to warmer hardiness zones than those found here in Brevard County. If you live on the “mainland” (Scottsmoor down to Micco), we are considered zone 9b. If you choose plants for that zone, you will suffer fewer losses or need to protect plants the next time a cold front makes it this far south. Typically, South Merritt Island and the beaches are considered zone 10a, but that is not always the case, as this winter proved.

As I drove around the county, I saw many of the same plants for hardiness zone 10a have been planted from Cocoa through Melbourne. Here are some of the plants that I would not recommend replanting here on the “mainland”. I have seen a variety of tropical palms hit by the freezing temperatures, including Coconut, Royal, Fishtail, Foxtail, Christmas, Bottle, and Areca. There are also a variety of ornamental plants, such as Clusia, Copperleaf, Croton, Fiddleleaf fig, Schefflera, and Xanadu philodendron.

I also noticed many plants that made it through our hard freeze with no problem, and the palms in this category include Bismarck, Canary Island, Date, and Pygmy date; Lady Finger; Mexican fan or Washingtonia; Paurotis; and Queen palm.

Many of our native plants also got hit, though they should survive even if they look horrible now. Two that I noticed are Firebush and Necklace pod. Native plants that took the temperatures in stride include Florida privet (hardy to zone 8b!), and Walter’s viburnum.


For those of you who have lost a tropical palm, consider replanting with one of the palms I mentioned earlier that had no problem this winter, or choose from these other cold-tolerant palms: Needle, Paurotis, Proctor’s Silver, Ribbon Fan, Solitaire, and Sylvester.

In the aftermath of this freezing weather, be sure to replace plants with ones that grow in zone 9b. That will save you a lot of effort if you have fewer (or zero) large plants to protect throughout your yard. And if there are tender plants you want to grow, have a plan for protecting them, which could include planting them on the south side of the house, under trees, or keeping the necessary protection, like frost cloth, on hand. Having a plan thought out before you need it is always helpful.

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