ATLANTA — Bad news for blossoms blooming this weekend as Georgia weather decides to take a dip down into freezing temperatures. Here are some tips on saving your plants from the cold.
Those who decided to put out their warm seasonal vegetables and people with blossoms on their flowers early have some work to do this weekend to make it through.
Sami Peltonen, who works at GardenHood in Atlanta, told 11Alive he'd recommend "getting a bit of frost blanket for any annuals that people have put out a little early, such as veggies, like tomatoes, peppers."
Plants that are not native to the state and started flowering need to be covered as well, he said
"They might not be used to that sort of seasonal cool," Peltonen explained.
However, for the most part, he said any plant from Georgia or that has lived in the state for the past few winters should stand up to the cold.
When should I have planted my summer flowers and vegetables?
Peltonen said to pay attention to the annual frost date for this area as it changes from time to time.
"It's usually sometime within the first time of April," he explained. "Get your flowers for summer and veggies for summer all in the last weeks of March and the first weeks of April."
He added that night temperatures should not go below 50 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid these plants from getting caught by a freeze.
Get more help from GardenHood
GardenHood is the only independent nursery in the Atlanta metro, and they've been open for 13 years, Peltonen said. They have many indoor and outdoor plant options, have a team well-versed in horticulture landscape design, and look forward to helping plant enthusiasts, and newcomers spruce up their gardens.
They also update articles on their website to help the Atlantan gardener and have an email form to answer questions.
No frost, light frost, hard frost?
According to the Famers Almanac website, these are some popular plants that can withstand some freezing temperatures and those that cannot.
>> Use their frost date calculator to see dates for your city
Hardy vegetables can withstand freezing temperatures and hard frosts for short periods without injury (Hard frost; below 28 degrees Fahrenheit):
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Collards
- Horseradish
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Mustard
- Greens Onion (sets and seeds)
- Parsley Peas
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Spinach
- Turnips
Frost-tolerant vegetables (can withstand light frost; 28 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit):
- Beet
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Chard
- Chinese cabbage
- Cabbage
- Endive
- Jerusalem artichoke
- Lettuce
- Onion
- Garlic
- Chives
- Parsnips
- Potatoes
- Rhubarb
Tender vegetables (can withstand no frost)
The following vegetables are damaged by even light frost. They should be protected from frost or harvested before frost.
- Beans
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Muskmelon
- Okra
- Pepper
- Pumpkin
- Squash, summer
- Squash, winter
- Sweet corn
- Sweet potato
- Tomato
- Watermelon
The temperatures start falling Friday night after a heavy rainstorm is expected to push into west Georgia. So if you're reading this Friday, it's time to get plants covered or put inside.
