December 2000 Cold Snap - Damage Report

The December 2000 cold spell began with a cold but sunny Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The following night temperatures plummeted to -14°C in some parts of Northern Ireland.  Between 6"-8" of snow fell on the afternoon of 27th December, followed by a four-day freeze.

While much of Belfast escaped the extreme lows of other parts of the Province, the duration of the freeze did damage some plants.  (Damage was certainly not as bad as in the 1995 Christmas freeze when I recorded temperatures as low as -11°C.)

My temperature recordings for the Christmas 2000 freeze were as follows:-

	Date		Min.	Max.
	26th December		-4°C (25°F)	1°C (34°F)
	27th December		-7°C (19°F)	0°C (32°F)
	28th December		-6°C (21°F)	-3°C (27°F)
	29th December		-7°C (19°F)	-3°C (27°F)
	30th December		-7°C (19°F)	-2°C (28°F)

The following is a damage report on plants growing in my garden.  Protection, where given, varied from a plastic sheet or blanket thrown over the plants (or a length of carpet rolled around a trunked plant) to a straw wrap (usually a double ring of chicken wire around a plant with straw stuffed in between - 2/3 inch thickness. Leaves/fronds are tied up, as far as possible).

I am hopeful that the straw-wrapped plants will not have been greatly affected by these frosts so I will not inspect them until Spring.

Initial observations are not always correct and frost damage can take a while to show, so I will update the table as necessary.

FEBRUARY 2001:  A second similar cold snap occurred at the end of February 2001 to add to the damage.  Temperatures again falling to -6/-7ºC although daytime temperatures generally around freezing point or just above.

 

Plant Species	Height/Age	Protection	Damage - Updated May 2001
Aeonium arboreum	2ft/5yrs	No protection	Killed
Agave americana	1ft/5yrs	No protection	70% leaf damage Killed
Agave americana	20ins/8yrs	Blanket cover	[No damage] 80%, recovering
Agave americana marginata	1ft/6yrs	Overhead palm fronds	40% leaf damage Killed
Agave parryi (4)	20ins/10yrs	No protection	[No damage]30%, recovering
Albizzia lophantha (2)	5ft/2yrs	No protection	Soft growth killed Killed
Aloe striatula (several)	3ft/7yrs	Blanket cover	[No damage] Slight damage to tips
Aloe striatula	2ft/3yrs	No protection	10% leaf damage Top growth killed
Astelia 'Silver Spear'	2ft/3yrs	No protection	[No damage] (one in pot frosted killed)
Beschornaria yuccoides (clump)	3ft/4yrs	No protection	Negligible - some leaf splitting 30% damage, recovering
Beschornaria yuccoides (clump)	3ft/7yrs	Plastic sheet	[No damage] 10% leaf damage
Brahea armata	3ft/7yrs	None	[No damage]KILLED!
Butia capitata	5ft/10yrs	Straw wrap	(Unknown until spring)KILLED!
Chamaerops humilis (2)	3ft/7yrs	No protection	[No damage]Center spear pulled out. One recovering, one doubtful.
Cordyline australis (2)	9ft/5yrs	No protection	[No damage]Centre spears pulled out.  Some rosettes recovering, some not
Cordyline australis albertii	5ft/5yrs	Carpet wrap	[No damage]70% leaf damage, recovering well.
Cordyline indivisa (2)	5ft/8yrs	No protection	[No damage]30% leaf damage, recovering
Cordyline 'Torbay Red'	3'/4yrs	No protection	Defoliated Killed
Cordyline 'Torbay Red'	3'/4yrs	No protection	Inner leaves damaged Killed
Cordyline parryi purpurea	3'/10yrs	No protection	Damage similar to above- recovering
Cycas revoluta (2)	1ft/5yrs	Blanket cover	Yellowing of fronds Killed
Dasylirium atrotrichum	3'/9yrs	Blanket cover	[No damage]
Dicksonia antarctica	5ft/? yrs	No protection	Fronds 50% bronzed (damage to buds unlikely) KILLED!
Dicksonia squarrosa	5ft/?yrs	Carpet wrap	Fronds already removed (damage to buds unlikely) KILLED
Echium pininana (8 + seedlings)	8ft/2yrs	No protection	All killed
Fascicularia bicolor (4)	1ft/7yrs	No protection	[No damage]
Hemitelia (Cyathea?) smithii (5)	1ft/3yrs	Blanket cover	Discoloured fronds
Lampranthus ?	2ft/4yrs	Blanket cover	All soft growth killedKILLED
Musa basjoo (suckers -5)	3ft/2yrs	No protection	Killed to ground
Musa basjoo (trunks - 7)	5ft/6yrs (cut to 5')	Straw wrap	Unknown until spring - none expected 4 older trunks killed - 3 regrowing plus new suckers emerging.
Phoenix canariensis	5ft/?	Straw wrap	Unknown until spring Killed
Phormium tenax	6ft/6yrs	No protection	[No damage]40% damage
Phormium tenax varigated	5ft/7yrs	No protection	25% damage 90% damage
Trachycarpus fortunei (4)	7ft/14yrs	No protection	[No damage]
Trachycarpus wagnerianus (5)	4ft/10yrs	No protection	[No damage] - Central spear pulled out from one in a pot - now regrowing.
Washingtonia filifera	3'/6yrs	No protection	All fronds snapped/bent over- KILLED!
Yucca gloriosa tricolor	5ft/8yrs	No protection	[No damage]
Yucca recurvifolia	6ft/8yrs	No protection	[No damage]

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