Lessons Learned from Plants that Survived the Big Freeze

In the Great Texas Freeze of 2021 temperatures fell below zero for days and days. That was dramatic for North Texas! Many clients lost as much as 80 percent of their landscape plants. Since then, we’ve been restoring gardens and creating new ones using ‘lessons learned’ to choose more resilient plants. The good news? We haven’t sacrificed beauty!

The intense cold revived some plants. Roses, for instance, that typically had a 50 percent bloom rate jumped to 200 percent the year after the freeze.  They loved it!  So now I’m using lots of white roses, they’re hardy and gorgeous. Holly is another plant the cold invigorated. Holly produced bumper crops of berries after the freeze. Evergreen ground covers like Coloratus winter creeper, Mondo grass, standard and dwarf, survived. So did old-school boxwood, which I’m using more often but in a combination of ways – straight-lines, undulating hedges, ball shapes.

Once I have the structure, I introduce plants that add softness without adding a lot of color. I’m emphasizing tranquility as I restore or design new landscapes. We all need it right now. It’s one of the reasons I’m gravitating to shades of blue and white. That color combination produces a sense of serenity.  I’m also creating monochromatic gardens, especially white gardens. Variations in tints, shades and hues interspersed with different textures keep things interesting and give the eye a peaceful place to rest.

Things are changing. Winters are colder, summers hotter. Landscape designers are learning how to adapt.