Hi,

Sorry for your troubles, any chance of a picture? It's really rather difficult to say w/out one.

Bummer. How do you know it froze?

I concur with the need for a picture...

Yes, I third the picture request.

If only the leaves are affected, it'll re-sprout no problem.
If the roots and the stems/trunks froze, then it's doomed no matter what you try.

Josh

As Josh says, if the stem remains solid, it will come back, with some nurturing. If not, no, it's garden compost.

It's a shifty time to ship plants - more misses than hits, but it can be done.

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb. Sorry to hear about your plant!

If you'd like to read about my own adventure with Frost Pruning, click the link:

Frozen Jade - back from the dead

Josh

Here's a picture. I'll attach another one. A couple of the branches that were green are going to die. Should I just cut all of the obviously non-viable stuff back and see what happens. Josh, your pictures were very encouraging. I don't think the main trunk was damaged.

Another picture.

Ah, an Elephant's Bush, Spekboom....Portulacaria afra.

This is not a Jade, although I'm sure it was mislabeled as such. The leaves are more delicate
than Jade leaves, but the trunk and stems are also more woody. I would let nature take its
course for the next few days, and then begin to crumble off the dead leaves. Gently squeeze
the stems and remove any that are mushy or ruptured (leaking moisture from within).

Keep us updated :-)

Josh

Thanks. The tag attached to the plant calls it a "Dwarf Jade" so that's what I was going with. Thanks for identifying it for me! All but two of the leaves have fallen off. I trimmed a couple of branches that were mushy. I'll put it in a window and hope for the best. I'll post more pictures if it improves. Should I water it while it recovers?

I would wait to water...probably until new growth begins to appear.
Poke a wooden skewer or toothpick all the way to the bottom of the container,
and leave it there. In a few days, remove it to see if it is still damp.
If damp, don't water. If bone dry, water lightly.

Josh

I think you need to contact the sender and tell them that their packaging wasn't sufficient/good enough to keep the plant alive in transit. Just my opinion :)
Gill from the UK.

Gill, I did contact the nursery that sent it via email and did not receive a reply. I plan on calling them and letting them know.

And Josh, thanks for the advice about the toothpick.

Having a Jack Nicholson moment from A Few Good Men, "Well don't I feel f--- stupid."

...all this time, all the discussions and web pages I've read... I never got the memo about "leave it there." Why is that always left out of the instructions?

NOW it finally makes sense why this would work. Josh, awesome!! I have a small sense of how the guys felt who dug up King Tut or realized the Sphinx has feet. This is quite a discovery.

Hehehe, well thanks, Purple ;-)

Some remove the skewer, some leave it (like I do).
I only have a few containers with mixes that are hard to "read" from the surface -
so I leave the skewer in and check it every few days. Otherwise, I'd have to wait
for the skewer to absorb moisture...and when I want to know something, I want it now! ;-)

Good luck, Jk2f! Let us know how it goes.

Josh

"Otherwise, I'd have to wait for the skewer to absorb moisture"

Yes, that's why I never understood this. If I stick a dry stick in most of my pots and pull it right back out, even while they're moist, I don't see any moisture on the stick. I've tried this, then check and yep, I can feel it with my finger. There would be darkening if it was left there for a day or two and there would actually be something to see.