19.05.12
The hard freeze earlier this month was enough to kill tomatoes, peppers, vinca, lantanas, poinciana and other cold-sensitive plants.
The foliage of the herbaceous plants (tomatoes, vinca and peppers) can be deposited in the compost pile. You have a choice to make on the lantanas, duranta and other plants that had their foliage killed but have sturdier stems. They can be trimmed down to the soil surface now or allowed to stand for a few more months. The stems and freeze-killed leaves are valuable cover for wintering birds.
Leave the killed stems in place until February, and birds such as American sparrows, towhees, Inca doves, wrens, warblers and goldfinches will use them for shelter and feeding areas.
If you are in the planting mood, there are a few options to consider that will contribute to the landscape while having a neutral or positive impact to your water and resource balance sheet.
Have you ever grown bluebonnets as a transplant? Area nurseries have bluebonnet transplants available. Plant them in the garden or in a vacant field to serve as a seed source for future generations of bluebonnets.
Source: San Antonio Express