The Miracle of Frost Cloth
Photo: Frost cloth was firmly weighted down to the ground, ready for whatever cold was ahead. This photo was taken December 8, 2016.
I’ve used frost cloth to cover my 250 aspidistras (cast iron plants) before, and I’ve always been pleased. But this winter was, at least for two cold spells, extremely cold and it extended over several days. I was curious how well the plants would come through.
Aspidistras regrow very slowly, and I learned many years ago not to leave my planting in rural DFW uncovered when it gets really cold. I don’t ever want to have to cut hundreds of fibrous leaves off to get things tidied up again.
Photo: This is a planting of aspidistra in McKinney. It’s actually in a more protected location than the beds at our house, but you can see in this photo from five days ago how much damage the cold did to the plants’ leaves.
We uncovered our three big beds of aspidistra less than one week ago, and what I saw as we did was far beyond what I had a right to expect.
There was minimal damage, some of which might have been there when we covered the plants. The plants were fresh and verdant and ready for spring.
The take-away advice from all this? Buy yourself a roll of frost cloth this summer or early fall and have it available for quick use next winter. It comes in 4-foot and wider rolls. I prefer 8-foot rolls so I can go up and over my plantings and back to the ground. We cut it and fit it before it turns cold, and we leave it rolled up in the garage until we need it. We leave some bricks and river rocks hidden nearby in our landscape to make it all easier. This same technique will work with many types of tender plants.