Rewilding My Lot

Mexican Olive
I didn’t realize it at the time, but of the trees I have planted here, my Mexican Olive (Cordia boissieri) was at greatest risk during the winter freeze when temperatures got as low as 16F. The strongest factors in choosing plants here have been that they are preferably native and highly resistant to heat and drought. Choosing by those parameters sometimes brings the risk that plants might be more vulnerable in harsh freezes, and this is apparently the case for Mexican Olive.

The fact that the leaves of my Mexican Olive tree turned black in the extended freeze (photo above) wasn’t terribly surprising. What I didn’t know was how extensive was the damage. Was the tree completely dead? If it was alive, would I get new growth on all of the branches? Or would there be recovering growth on only part of the tree?

For several weeks I waited to see if there would be any sign of life, and finally I saw some. There are new leaf tufts on all of the branches, so that’s a best case scenario in that none of the height of the tree has been lost (42 inches at the last measurement). I am much more hopeful now that with another year to grow stronger, this Mexican Olive tree will be hardy enough to survive our Seguin winters.

American Beautyberry
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) was one of the first things I planted here last spring. It’s an understory shrub that likes shade, so I thought that behind the house would be a good location. However, the afternoon sun that it did get was blisteringly hot during our summer drought, and the plant was considerably stressed by the time we got to fall. (With hindsight, I should have given it more supplemental water during the drought.)

So by the time winter came, this plant was no bigger than when I had bought it months earlier (15 inches tall), and was struggling. Then we had our freeze and I wasn’t sure if I had lost it altogether. However, now there are leaf buds all the way to the top of the plant, so I have another chance to encourage this plant to grow stronger before its next challenge. It really wants more shade than I can offer it at the moment.

If you look at the top of the right-hand branch in that photo, you’ll see a little female Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) resting. Here are a couple of closer photos of that. The larvae of this butterfly may eat Bermudagrass, which would be fine with me!