Cooler weather is around the corner. Here's how to protect your plants

You might not have believed it a few weeks ago, but the seasons have clearly begun to change. The earliest first freeze date on record here is Nov. 3, although it can come in December or later. Frosts are likely to show up first. Frosts happen when the temperatures are between 32 and 36 degrees Fahrenheit and ice crystals form on surfaces. Some of us dislike our cooler season, but some of us like pulling on a sweater or jacket. The same could be said of our plants.

A season of rest is helpful for many of our plants, including roses and trees. It’s a time to prepare for the stresses of spring and summer. We can use it that way.

Jacksonville covers a huge land mass, and the temperatures can vary by a few precious degrees. If you are near water, it will help reduce the impact of a cold front, storing heat and releasing it slowly overnight. So will a tree canopy, trapping a degree or two of heat underneath. Those are a big advantage for some of us and can keep our plants a little warmer than they would be without them. Sometimes two or three degrees make all the difference.

It is difficult to protect your plants from cold and frost if you do it at the last minute. And even if you do most of the preparations now, there will still be last-minute things you notice that need to be done later. But it is easier if you take it in increments.

If you have tender tropical plants, you may want to think in advance. Below 50 or 55 degrees will sustain damage. We have gotten close to that already. You can bring them indoors. Desert Rose and Mandevilla are examples of tender tropical plants. Impatiens are also unlikely to make it through the cooler months outdoors.

Now is a good time to snip off some cuttings of such plants. Think of them as insurance plants for your favorite plants. If your plants make it through, you will have extra plants to tuck in somewhere or to share with someone else. For directions on how to grow cuttings visit https://www.growables.org/information/documents/PropagationUF.pdf .

Before you bring them in, give them a quick spray with neem oil or horticultural soap spray (tops and bottoms of leaves and stems). This will help prevent insect hitchhikers — and hopefully reveal any lizard hitchhikers too. Outside, you have some beneficial insects and lizards to help control insects. Inside, you have no beneficial insects and the lizards will just dry out and die. Even though you have sprayed them, check your plants for insect pests that escaped your careful treatment.

The potted plants that are staying outdoors can be moved to a sheltered place and you can prepare to cover them. Or you can prepare to cover them in place. PVC pipe makes for easy frames for covers. Frost cloth makes covers, or some people use plastic and remove it in the morning. Umbrella-type covers work well.

Surprisingly, a mechanic’s light with a 40-watt incandescent light or a strand of holiday lights that are not LED lights will generate enough light to keep plants warm on a cold night under cover. They use little electricity and won’t burn your plants.

There’s a lot more to this season than just protecting plants. A lot of plants really love the chill, and they will thrive in the months ahead. Calendula with its sunny yellow bloom would love a spot in the sun. Asters of all kinds will tolerate some partial shade. The Georgia aster is a pollinator favorite and a blue-flowered beauty.

Verbenas spread out and tolerate partial shade too. Sweet Alyssum is stellar at flowering and attracting pollinators. I have kept some alive over a year, but not in the years when we have the very blistering spring heat. Some pollinators will be out all winter. Pansies and their cousins the Johnny Jump ups will be in the nurseries soon and they always look very cheery in the landscape. Dusty millers tolerate a little shade and glow with their silvery foliage. Petunias and Sweet peas both bring color to the garden.

In the woody ornamental world, camellias flower in the fall and winter. Given partial shade, good drainage and away from the house drip line, camellias are gorgeous low-maintenance plants. They bloom in a wide variety of colors and last for generations.

If you want a haunting fragrance, look no further than the tea olive, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST425 . A small to medium tree, it has small, inconspicuous flowers that fill the air with fragrance around the holidays and continue for months.

The trees are giving us great mulch (leaves and needles) and the weather is fine for collecting it. Get out in the sunshine and enjoy your landscape.

Becky Wern is a Master Gardener volunteer with the Duval County Extension Service and the University of Florida/IFAS. For gardening questions, call the Duval County Extension Office at (904) 255-7450 from 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and ask for a Master Gardener volunteer.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Cooler weather is around the corner. Here's how to protect your plants