Skip to main content

Early Spring Hard Freeze Damage

Sometimes Mother Nature Seems Cruel, the last few weeks in Los Lunas have consisted of daily temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s with nighttime temperatures in the upper 30’s to almost 50. Fruit trees were blooming, trees and shrubs were leafing out, it seemed like the winter cold was behind us. Then WHAM, Mother Nature hits the area with two nights of freezing temperatures. The first night passes with a light freeze and a low of 29º F. That morning a sigh of relief, all the plants seem OK with no leaf, fruit, or flower damage – Hooray! 

Then comes the second night with a hard freeze warning and a low of 20º F, don’t really want to go look at the plants that morning so I go to work. I think about the possible freeze damage all day. So when I get home I go straight to the yard and look closely at everything. Fruit tree foliage looks fine.
 
 
Small developing fruits are blackened as in this Harrow Delight pear

 
or shriveled like this Toka plum. It appears this year’s fruit crop has been lost?

 
Shade tree foliage shows extreme damage like in this English Columnar Oak.


A close-up view shows the shriveled, blackened leaves.

 
In some trees the freeze damage appears as dehydrated foliage like this Sandpaper Oak.

Vines were also damaged, displaying shriveled leaves as in this Himrod grape.                  

 
Redbud leaves and flowers were also damaged by the cold temperatures showing blackened shriveled leaves and dehydrated flowers.

 
THE GOOD NEWS is if your trees are healthy they should make a full recovery. Foliage should return to normal after several weeks. Water as needed to keep the soil moist (not wet) to support leaf out. Grapes will leaf out and probably flower producing some grapes this year.

Photos and Narrative By:
Stephen Sain
Staff Plant Physiologist

Comments

David C. said…
33F Thurs AM, icy winds all day at 52F high, then wham...26F low Fri AM. Hoping this is our last frost or freeze in the foothills, but later cold seems to be the trend in most recent years.

Sorry about your damage and fruit loss...many things limp here, maybe will come back. Neighbors' Raywood Ash blackened, Arizona Ash all fine, and redbuds all fine...must be tougher. My honey mesquites' green leaflet buds emerging just know when to wait, though...neighbor's desert willow even later.
April 20, 2013 at 8:53 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Weed Identification: Goatheads or Stickers

Goatheads ( Tribulus terrestris ) are native to Southern Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Goatheads are also called stickers, sticker weed, bullhead, devil’s weed, and puncturevine. Goatheads are easily recognized by their prostrate growth form, leaves with leaflets, yellow flowers, and stickers (Goatheads). If you miss’em visually then they will stab you painfully in the fingers as you work your garden, or stick to your clothing and shoes. Goatheads are the primary reason local bicyclists must get “thorn proof” tires for riding on area trails and streets. Goatheads have prostrate stems that radiate outward from one central point. Leaves are compound with smaller leaflets. Lemon yellow flowers form along the stems and fertilized flowers form fruits.   Fruits consist of several attached structures called nutlets (Goatheads). Each nutlet is a single seed that becomes hard or woody when mature. Each seed has two sharp spines that easily penetrat
1 comment
Read more

Weed Identification: Sand Bur

Sand Bur ( Cenchrus longispinus ) is native to North America. It has other names like sand spur, long-spined sand bur, hedgehog grass, and bur grass . Sand Bur is an annual grass usually growing with a prostrate growth form. It is similar in appearance to other grasses prior to seed formation. Individual plants may be 3’ in diameter, sometimes larger. Sand Bur is a common weed of sandy soils but also grows well elsewhere. Sand Bur will often root at stem nodes that are touching the ground. The root system of Sand Bur is shallow and fibrous making them easily pulled (when immature). Sand Bur produces a flowering spike. As seeds begin to form Sand Bur is easily recognized by its numerous sharp or burred seeds or long spines. As the burred seeds mature they are easily separated from the mother plant and their sharp spines stick to virtually anything. Sand Bur can disseminate its seeds long distances because its sharp spines will hitch a ride on skin, animal hides,
5 comments
Read more

Western Soapberry Tree

The Western Soapberry tree ( Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii ) is native to New Mexico. It grows wild from Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana westward through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Mexico. The fruit of the Western Soapberry tree is a drupe. Mature fruits are translucent, amber colored, and contain a black seed. The mature fruit without the seed will produce a good lather with water and has been used as a soap substitute. Fruits persist on the trees through winter. T he Western Soapberry tree can grow 1′-2′ annually reaching 25′-30′ tall and wide making it a good sized shade tree. Fall leaf color is an attractive golden yellow. Currently, there are no improved varieties of the Western Soapberry Tree. It grows well on the alkaline soils of New Mexico and is very tolerant of heat and drought once established. This tree is rarely affected by disease or insect pests making it an ideal specimen tree for your yard or landscape. S
1 comment
Read more