It seems that every year has a harsh period of weather making our Missouri winters a challenge for seemingly hardy plants. The erratic weather patterns give plants mixed signals and cause many types of damage.
This past winter (2023-2024) was mild, barely seeing temps below 20 degrees, weather more typical of Georgia. Mid-January brought a long spell (10 days) of cold temperatures near and below zero degrees. That was long enough to penetrate flower buds, tender growth tips, and broadleaf evergreen foliage.
Then, coupled with months of dangerously low rainfall, plants that would normally withstand sudden cold spells suffered additional stress from the drought.
Summary… all of this damage is because of the drought and a brief but sudden cold snap in January. Welcome to gardening in Missouri.
To lessen these effects in future years, reference our blog on How to Avoid Winter Damage in the Landscape. Following these principles is the best defense against future winter damage.
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Die-back
Leaf buds of Crape Myrtle froze out during the mid-January chill. If it hadn’t been for this cold spell, new growth would have emerged all the way up the branches. Instead, it leafed out close to the ground where there was more warmth.
Winter Injury to Broadleaf Evergreens
Normally Korean Boxwood (ex- Green Velvet) shows little to no winter damage, but not so this past winter. Again, warm temps with a sudden and prolonged cold snap, plus essentially no moisture for months, caused leaf dessication.
Holly, Azalea, Rhododendron, and evergreen Magnolia each had reports of damage to their evergreen leaves, but it was not consistent or wide spread.
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Irregular or Non-Existing Blooming Patterns
Overall, Lilacs and Daffodils (see header photo) had fewer or no blooms this spring. These resilient spring favorites are notoriously drought tolerant, but the combination of excessive cold and dry at the same time definitely affected their spring show.
Fruit tree blossoms were also erratic, everywhere from trees that were completely full of blooms, to thin amounts or no blooms at all.
Even fall-planted pansies suffered from the sudden cold snap. Pansies are naturally shallow rooted but very cold hardy, but this sudden cold spell still damaged these young plants. One variety froze out completely, resulting with spots of missing plants in this flower bed.
