TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — During the winter season, you may be thinking about how to keep yourself and your pets warm, but our plants may be experiencing the effects of the cold weather too.
Growing up watching her dad garden, Tucsonan Jane Evans has decades of experience handling plants. She and her husband who have degrees from the University of Arizona in Plant Science are the the owners of the Northside plant nursery, “Plants for the Southwest.”
The nursery, located at 50 E. Blacklidge Dr., sits on a commercial acre and specializes in cacti and succulents from around the world. They work to make sure they are growing plants that are appropriate for our region.
Evans explains that some people don’t realize how cold it can really get in our area.
“I think it’s important in the winter to realize that Tucson gets cold,” Evans said. “Many people will come into the nursery and they’ll say ‘oh it never freezes at my house, oh it never freezes at my house.’”
So one of her big pieces of advice is to make sure you have plants that can tolerate our climate.
“If you have tropical plants, they’re going to freeze and there’s really nothing you can do about it, you need to make choices with your plants. Think about it before you buy the plant and try and buy something that’s going to be able to tolerate our climate,” she said.
Evans says many plants that are native to the area can tolerate temperatures in the 20s and sometimes the teens. For those plants that need some protection, her go-to product is frost cloth.
“The problem with putting plastic directly on your plants is that the cold can then settle through and it’s really not providing as much protection as you want,” Evans said. “So ideally you would put something else for protection underneath, over the plant. And then if you still want to put plastic, put plastic on top.”
She also suggests paying particular attention to items that have been freshly planted.
“If you have freshly planted plants you need to make sure that you’re especially careful on those because they haven’t acclimated, they haven’t gotten into the soil, they aren’t used to it,” she said.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
