The Aftermath

With the worst of this unbelievable cold spell behind us (although another freeze is possible tonight), I took a walk in My Florida Backyard today to assess the damage. Despite my optimism last week that my mostly native plants would be able to survive reasonably well, the destruction in the gardens is pretty complete, at least above ground.

This porterweed is pretty indicative of the damage in the butterfly garden.
The milkweed, butterflyweed, and most of the lantana took similar blows.

New shoots on the tropical sage didn't fare well, and even the Golden Dewdrop is showing some frostbite.

The salvia is pretty much a total loss:

I expected the hibiscus to take a pretty hard hit, and it did:

What I didn't expect was for the firebushes to sustain so much damage.
I've never seen them affected by winter weather before.

All this devastation, combined with the brown dead grass everywhere, makes My Florida Backyard suddenly seem very bleak and uninviting. It's a harsh reminder that no matter how well you prepare and plan, you can never control nature. My Florida-Friendly gardens just didn't stand a chance against weather that hasn't been seen in 50 years.

Still, the damage can be removed, and many of the plants will survive and regrow. What My Florida Backyard needs now is sunshine and warm rain, some TLC, and lots of patience. We'll give it what we can, and wait for the healing to begin.