We had a crazy “winter” here in Central Florida with a long freeze that has changed the landscape. We had losses. It is May and many plants and trees are coming back – thankfully – but the two-day below freezing temps destroyed many perennials that could not handle it.
Palm trees in particular still have many brown fronds. Banana trees lost all their green, but have pushed out new leaves.
My large crotons completely died, but there is new growth way down at the base on a few. Same thing for the rubber trees.
I lost my pony tail palm tree, which is say, but it was fairly small to begin with, and the fiddle leaf fig, which is in a pot outside, looked completely dead, but has sprouted new growth.
Both Moringa trees completely died. Their tall branching trunks will need to be removed, but new growth is coming from the bottom.
Lost Some Wonderful Milkweed!
Last year I mail-ordered some swamp milkweed from the Grower’s Exchange and it was beautiful. All four plants grew tall and lovely. Sadly, only one of those plants survived the freeze. It was the plant which grew closest to the house.
I also have other milkweed, such as the white flowering swamp milkweed pictured above. All the tropical milkweed is dead – which is a shame because although it is the WRONG kind to plant, it grows fast and feeds Monarchs.
At the present time I don’t have many milkweed plants. Maybe some of the ones growing will give me seeds.
May in My Garden
After all the cold was gone, I planted the remaining Contender bush bean seeds. I have been eating green beans nearly every day for weeks now! They are delicious but I might leave the rest on the plants to dry – if they will. I know this is how to do it in a normal climate, but Florida is different. It will be a new experiment.
Spring is the time to collect good veggies from the Florida backyard. Once the heat is here for good – any day now – the heat hating foods will wilt and die. So, I’m enjoying the dill, borage and green beans for the next few days, or weeks.
Eggplant will grow year round, but eggplants to eat are sporadic. During the summer months I will be planting only sweet potatoes and they should arrive any day now. If you are wondering what to plant for summer in Florida, I wrote a page about Five Things to Grow in Summer that need little to no attention.
Enjoy your summer!
Thank you for sharing!
Hydrangeas Blue 
Nice to have you back in my inbox, Pam!
I grew broad beans (called Fava beans in the US) last year, almost out
of season – normally here, they are planted to grow over our (relatively
mild season) so they are ready for the bumble bees to fertilise them,
but I found a packet of seeds, well past its ‘plant by’ date, and I
didn’t expect much, but they all grew! I pulled them out at the end of
January (they had got rust) and threw them into the compost. Some of the
plants had green beans in pods that had gone black, so they went in too.
And about a month ago I was moving the compost and kept coming across
just sprouted broad beans! So I planted them in a garden bed that I
hadn’t cleared out – and they all grew! So I have now transplanted them
(broad beans are so obliging) and I have 18 plants – planted at the
right time of the year!
Regarding your green beans, providing the beans are fully formed, try
hanging the plants upside down, and then give them a final dry in a very
low oven.
Or try googling to see what others suggest.
Best of luck.
Justine (NZ)
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