If you like it, buy it now or risk getting frozen out
Storm slammed nurseries and growers, too, so inventories could wither
Like most shoppers Sunday at Milberger’s Landscaping and Nursery on the far North Side, Barbara Hodge was looking to replace some of the plants killed during last month’s arctic blast.
“I lost all the herbs I had in pots on my front porch,” Hodge said as she loaded her car with sage, rosemary, tarragon, oregano, peppermint, spearmint and, for when hot weather arrives, some sweet basil. “So I pulled them out, and I’m starting over.”
What she wasn’t replacing were some of her larger plants, such as the salvia that puts out big, blue blossoms and several variegated privets. While these lost all their leaves following the storms, they’ve begun to showing signs of life.
“I thought they were dead, but now I see them putting out these little green buds,” she said. “So maybe everything’s not a total loss.”
While nursery cash registers were busy this past weekend, especially for February, there weren’t hordes of gardeners rushing to replace everything in their yard. While many came to buy replacements for potted and bedding plants killed by the brutal cold, others appeared to be taking a wait-and-see approach.
“A lot of people are holding off until they see which plants are actually dead and which only look dead,” said Daniel Keith, vice president and general manager of Rainbow Gardens on Bandera Road. “Which is good, because we’re telling people to wait several more weeks to fully assess the damage. Even plants that have frozen to the ground may still be alive.”
Even though homeowners may not be panic-buying plants like so much toilet paper and hand sanitizer, nursery inventories likely will be tight over the coming weeks, months or, in
some cases, years, according to Trace Hazlett, store manager at Milberger’s.
Before the storm hit, the store took steps to protect its inventory. Workers moved as much as possible indoors, filling greenhouses, trucks, the store and even the mechanical shop with plants to protect them from the bitter cold.
“Things we couldn’t shelter didn’t fare as well,” said Peter Garza, the assistant manager. “We had four jewel palms over 20 feet tall that might not make it.”
Garza said they won’t know whether several large cacti and agaves survived until the weather warms and any damage becomes apparent.
Gardeners who hesitate buying now, he predicted, may not find what they want in the coming months. That’s because most operators grow plants outside, so they lost inventory in the during the winter storm.
Garza explained that growers plant in waves, so if they lose one week’s planting of, say, annuals, it will take a week to catch up. Perennials may take a bit longer, he said, about two or three weeks.
Things get dicier with shrubs. In a worst-case scenario in which an entire crop doesn’t survive, growers could lose up to a year of production. And if trees, even tender new Monterrey and live oaks, are lost, it could be several years until supplies are back to normal.
While shoppers are hesitant to replace plants that might come back in a few weeks, many are eager to add something colorful and cheery to the garden while they wait. That was Mary Stanchak’s strategy. The preschool director said her yard was devastated by the cold weather.
“We lost pretty much everything,” said Stanchak, who lives near Blanco Road and Loop 1604. “But they’re telling us to wait, so I’m trying to do that as much as possible while still replacing the things I know are not coming back.”
Still, she couldn’t resist the lure of spring color, buying primrose, geraniums and pansies to replace the potted plants she lost.
“For me, flowers are a sign of rebirth and renewal, and I am so eager for that on so many levels,” she said, adding with a laugh, “It’s hard to wait and be patient, but that’s the one thing this past year has taught us how to do, right?”
Gin Richardson estimated she lost 60 to 70 percent of the plants she was unable to move into her Canyon Springs garage before freezing temperatures hit. She can’t afford to replace everything at once, so she’s taking it slow, buying only some begonias, geraniums, kale and Swiss chard, as well as several seedlings of this year’s rodeo tomato, Ruby Crush.
“Gardening can be quite an investment, so I budget for a specific amount each year,” said Richardson, a banker. “This year my budget’s blown.”
She’s also waiting to see if any of her citrus trees survived, including her Meyer lemon, lime, kumquat and mandarin orange trees.
“The trees look really bad, but I think they might recover,” she said.
Some shoppers were using the freeze as an opportunity to rethink their home landscapes. Lissa Stephens was looking for plants to start a hummingbird garden, so she bought some kniphofias (also known as red hot poker plants) and daylilies.
“In my subdivision in Alamo Ranch, we had an abundance of hummingbirds in the yards last summer,” said Stephens, who works for Valero. “Seeing them in the yard zooming around was amazing and always brightened my day.”
Ramiro and Dori Asevedo came to Rainbow Gardens to replace several of the cacti and succulents that didn’t survive in their xeriscaped yard in Alamo Ranch.
“Some that look like they could come back, but others are obviously dead,” said Ramiro Asevedo, a professional photographer. “I’m not that upset because, while the xeriscaping was one reason we bought the house, some of the plants were gigantic, so we kind of wanted to take them down anyway.”
In the couple’s shopping cart were two different yuccas, a sotol and some lantana.
“Right now I’m focusing on the front and then we’ll do the back,” he said.
“We’re trying to get a jump on things because we know that plants are going to be in short supply, like milk, bread and everything else.”