With temperatures dropping to the 30s and 40s the next two nights, residents may want to cover their newly budded or planted flowers.
According to the National Weather Service, the low temperatures are expected to linger through Thursday in the Rome-Floyd County area and may affect newly planted shrubs and flowers.
Virginia Brewer, the owner at Lavender Mountain Hardware and Garden, said from the sales they had this weekend, she noticed people were buying plants that the freeze could hurt.
“If it gets really cold, you may not be able to save them,” she said, but added there are a few ways gardeners can protect plants or flowers that can’t be brought indoors overnight.
Anybody who has planted annuals like begonias, petunias, impatiens, camellias or marigolds can cover them up with plastic or old blankets, she said.
“These are the ones that are going to suffer the most,” she added. “If you use plastic though, take it off in the morning, so the sun won’t beat down on the plants.”
Covering the plants keeps the blossoms from turning brown.
If vegetables, like tomatoes, were recently planted, Brewer said, some people use plastic jugs or buckets to cover them.
“If anything is affected by the freeze though, they will need to be replaced,” she said.
Roses and shrubs that are showing new buds can be saved, too.
“If the brand new growth is burned, it’ll turn black in a few days, then you can just prune them and they’ll be OK,” she said. “(The freeze) won’t kill the whole plant. Just cut back till it’s green.”
Floyd County extension agent Keith Mickler said since it’s not supposed to be a really hard freeze this week residents could also scatter pine straw over plants.
“That will help hold some of the heat into the soil,” he said. “We’ll be in and out of these cool temps through April … it’s capable to get cold again and possibly see some freezing before mid-April.”
The forecast through Friday is:
Today: Mainly sunny. High 63F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: Clear. Low 37F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny. High 71F. Winds SSW at 11 mph.
Wednesday night: Mostly cloudy. Low 43F. Winds SSW at 4 mph.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High 75F. Winds SSW at 6 mph.
Thursday night: Partly cloudy. Low 51F. Winds SSW at 3 mph.
Friday: Mostly cloudy. High 78F. Winds SSW at 5 mph.
Friday night: Mostly cloudy. Low 52F. Winds SW at 3 mph.
