I got tired of bringing (heavy) pot of lemon tree in and out and after 4 years of doing so, just gave up and let it die on the deck.

Since then I say away from any tropical trees but do have couple of other flowering plants in smaller pots that I still do "in and out" thingie.

I have 6 Mission Olive trees growing in front of my home in Atlanta. They range from 3 to 6 feet in height even though they were all planted at the same time. They have never flowered or have set fruit... probably because of our cold winters. Once it got down to 18 degrees which caused some damage. About 1/2 of the leaves turned brown and some of the smaller twigs died. However, by mid summer, they looked fine. I live inside the city which is a bit warmer than the surrounding suburbs which may be one reason they have done so well.

I thought I'd post an up-date on my 6 olive trees after the Polar Vortex of 2014. The low for Atlanta was forecast to be as low as 6 degrees overnight. The lowest temp my olives had previously experienced was 18 degrees, so I was more than a bit concerned.

We sprayed them down with Frost Pruf a few days prior to the cold weather. The day before the cold front, we wrapped the trunks in bubble wrap and strung Xmas Tree lights throughout the trees. And lastly, we wrapped the entire trees with thick cotton sheets.... then prayed.

At 0500 that morning, the lowest temp in my yard was 10 degrees. The temp slowly rose throughout the day to just around the freeze mark (32 F). The forecast for the next day was bad, but wouldn't get as cold as the night before.

We kept the trees wrapped and lights lit throughout the night. The trees were kept wrapped and lit for the 2 coldest days. On the third day, we unwrapped the trees and unstrung the lights.

The trees show no signs of damage at this point. Time will tell. I will post an up-date this Spring when any freeze damage should become apparent.

This post was edited by Khakiguy on Sun, Jan 19, 14 at 14:08

There's berry farm in Pickens, SC that has had olives growing for several years now. They say they're still growing fine. Haven't heard how the super cold snap affected them. You could probably contact them for comparison.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Happy Berry Farm

Thanks for the info and I will follow up on that if possible. However, we're now expecting another unseasonably cold snap starting tonight. The only problem is, I am in Dublin, Ireland for work. i just spoke to my daughter who has volunteered to re-wrap the trees with the help of some very kind neighbors. Since it's not forecast to get into the single digits (this time), I told her not to bother with the Xmas lights, but just to use the bubble wrap and cotton sheets. Still, it's forecast to get as low as 18 degrees with wind, so I'm concerned. Hopefully, the wrapping will be enough. i will post an up-date after I return to Atlanta.

This post was edited by Khakiguy on Tue, Jan 21, 14 at 16:51

Wishing you luck, Khakiguy. Another cold snap on it's way. Maybe you should ask daughter to reapply Frost Pruf.

Keep us posted.

Rosie

Thank you Rosie.

I made it home yesterday morning, just in time for our next cold snap and snow!

The Olive trees appeared to be wrapped well. I only added some mulch, about 6 inches in depth, around their trunks and root areas. My Oleander trees and Changsha Mandarin bushes look terrible. I don't think they will make it, unless they come back from the roots. I have Climbing Fig on several walls, and they have turned all brown, I've never seen them look so bad. There are sections with a hint of green, so I am hopeful they will come back in the Spring.

We had about 2 inches of snow yesterday and temperatures are forecast as low as 17 degrees overnight. Fortunately, my home is in Ansley Park which is surrounded by the city. We normally are a few degrees warmer than the forecast lows for Atlanta and its suburbs. So if the trees are not dead already, perhaps we still have a chance.

Time will tell, and I will post up-dates when I have more information to share.

I'm kind of glad I didn't plant an olive tree because of this winter. It got down to 0 here and many of my even supposedly hardy plants may not make it.

It's been over 6 months since our last deep freeze, so I thought it was about time to give an up-date.

All of the Olive Trees showed signs of freeze damage. Many of the leaves and smaller branches turned brown and eventually died. I would estimate that about 1/3 of the outer foliage had some sort of damage. I waited until May before removing any of the burnt looking foliage whatsoever. It's now the middle of August and the trees look green and healthy.

The Oleanders and Changsha Orange didn't make it. However, I am happy to report, after turning all brown and looking quite dead, the Climbing Figs made a 100% recovery. In fact, they look better than they have in years (probably due to all the new growth).

Looking around the neighborhood, it appears that most gardens suffered similar damage as mine. One can still see some dead limbs and leaf burn which hasn't yet been removed. A few homes lost some marginal hardy plants/trees like Eucalyptus and Sago Palms. But overall, it's now hard to tell that we ever experienced such cold weather.

I am now back in Ireland, completing the end of a two-year assignment. If our Olive Trees make it through this winter, I plan to attach photos so everyone can see.

The fruits aren't edible for humans but Chionanthus virginicus is a beautiful native tree in the olive family. Mine is still young but I believe it's going to look very similar.