In the wee hours of Tuesday, January 20, it began to snow lightly, and as daylight
broke, heavy snow flurries combined with sustained 20-25 mph winds with higher
gusts, continued throughout the day. Low visibility prompted the first ever
Blizzard Warning from the National Weather Service in Lake Charles! Snow
accumulated on the ground, a total of 9 inches in Lafayette and ranging from 8 to
13 inches in some areas, which made roads impassable for several days.
Temperatures broke the all-time record lows in Lafayette and New Iberia at 4
degrees. Farther north where less snow had fallen, temperatures were in the
middle teens. Closer to the coast and coastal bays temperatures were recorded
in the low 20’s. The child in all of us came out as snow angels waved at us and
snowmen emerged from the icy ground. Our canine companions learned from this
new experience, either seeking shelter or frolicking with us in the snow.
But what about our plants? Plant enthusiasts invest a lot of time and money in
our yards, and we worry about climate extremes, like heat in the summer, flood
and drought anytime, and now extreme cold in an otherwise mild winter. What
can we expect from our native plants? We have been told that they are hardier
and withstand extremes better than their non-native counterparts. But what if
they were newly planted last fall and haven’t yet become well established? Now
is the time for YOU to become citizen scientists and record how the plants in your
yard withstood the extreme temperatures. Make a list of the plants in your yard,
label them native or non-native, and watch them emerge this spring. Yes, most of
them don’t look so great now. The green leaves on many trees have turned
brown and are falling. It is a great time to collect roadside bags of leaf mulch. The
above-ground vegetation of many herbaceous perennials has withered and is
dying back to the ground. In another month and a half, we should know what
plants will bud out or emerge from the soil, and what plants could not withstand
the extreme temperatures.
An unexpected bonus from the heavy layer of snow that covered everything is the
"blanket effect" that keeps plants warmer than the air around them. So the snow
on the ground and the water in the soil stayed at 32 degrees, while the air
temperature dropped to 4 degrees. Also, plants in the ground stay warmer than
plants in containers. Not so lucky are the trees and shrubs, but those woody
plants have lignin in their cells that help them tolerate weather extremes as well
as provide strength for support.
Take a stroll in your yard, make a list of your plants, and describe how they look
now. Then, do the same in March. Consider a native alternative if you discover
that some of your plants died in the freeze. If your non-natives need to be
replaced, replace them with a native plant of similar form, such as a deciduous
canopy tree or a small flowering evergreen shrub. ANPP has a list called Instead
of that, Plant this on our website with native replacements for popular non-
natives. Instead of feeling bad about plants that don't make it through the freeze,
use this event as an opportunity to increase native species and diversity in your
yard. If you would like to attract a particular pollinator or bird to your garden,
choose the host plant of that pollinator and put it in your garden.
The last Plant Hardiness Zone Map for the United States was released in 2023
using the latest weather data to reflect changes in our climate. Based on the
average extreme minimum temperature, the heat tolerance zones were moved
farther north than in the previous map. The freeze event of January 2025
reminds us that climate extremes are the norm now, and adaptation to these
extremes will affect plant growth and development. As plants adapt, so must
pollinators and animals. Since Louisiana flora evolved with Louisiana's fauna,
native plants are the wisest choice for the future.
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