This is my post for #freewtiers 3015 prompt honest lie hosted by
Back when I said I do not cut the dead from any freeze damaged plants until the middle of March, that was an honest lie. Like many things in life, there is an exception to every rule.
Plants with soft wood or leaves that are still spongy should be cut back, hard wood with crispy leaves should be left until Spring.
This is why soft wood needs to be cut back now. This plant is a bridal bouquet plumeria. You can see where the top has started rotting. If I do not cut it back, it will rot the entire plant.
The same goes for Crown of Thorns, I have to cut back past the soft on the stem, plus I have to take all of the leaves of because, like the first picture of shampoo ginger, they are starting to either mold or a fungus is starting, I am unsure which it is.
The Angel Trumpet was also getting moldy and soft. I hated to cut it back, but sometimes you have to, so you can save the plant. I forgot to take any pictures of after cutting everything back.
This is what happens if you wait too long to cut plants back. I forgot to take them inside. It was desert rose cuttings. When I found them, they were already rotting. I kept cutting, but the rot was all the way. I cut as far as I was willing to go because I knew they would die if I cut any further. The rot will now continue and kill them.
This is what they looked like before I started cutting. You would think the rot only went partway, but the center was rotted all the way.
My lilies are getting moldy, and some of the bromeliaids leaves, too.
I had to cut back all of the devil's backbone, some had already rotted all the way to the ground. Some of it was still green, but to make it look nice, I had to cut the green stalks, too.
Devil's backbone, it was over four feet tall, now it is two feet.
This Spring, I will have a huge job of cutting all of the dead from the areca palms, we have close to 800 of them. They were going to be our income for this Spring when fishing is bad.
photos are mine
