My grandmother says never plant till after May 5th: Old wives tale I have always went by?

i live in east Tennessee..we have had 80 degree weather for two weeks causing everything in my flower garden to come up, and this past Easter weekend the temps dropped to 19 degrees..my, iris,lilies,roses,elephant ears, and banana tree were all scalded..[thats how they all look].. will any survive and what do i need to do for them ??? I don't know what zone i live in , but can someone please help me !!! I'm just heart broken and don't know what to do

My grandmother says never plant till after May 5th: Old wives tale I have always went by?
For Iris, they will survive and grow new leaves and might not bloom this year.


For Lilies, if they are hardy in your zone they will survive but might not bloom this year if the buds were damaged by frost.


For Roses, they will survive and grow new leaves.


For Elephant ears and banana tree, I'm afraid they might die, you need check the roots if still ok, you need to move them indoor until the weather is warm and ok to put outside.
Reply:Hi!. The same thing happened here in central Alabama. The plants were just confused a bit. Don't worry. They survived the winter and will survive this cold snap. They will send out new growth. Some leaves may fall off but don't panic. New ones will grow. The real danger is when certain fruit trees bud out and the flowers are frozen, causing the crop to be lost ( especially fruit trees such as peaches.) If you bought any nursery plants ( bedding plants) such as zinnias, they would not survive, but something that has been in the ground all winter and dormant should be fine by this little trick of nature. Here in Alabama, the magic date to plant is April 15th, or sometimes Good Friday. Good luck and keep watching HGTV and stay inspired!!
Reply:Don't panic they are frost bitten and this early they will come back but may bloom later or not at all. Ma nature does things we aren't always happy with. Just take care of as you normally would. Grandma's planting guide is a good idea. I learned that covering things constantly and losing them was hardly worth jumping the gun on planting, you will get a garden up just as fast if you plant after the nights stay above 45. I am in Idaho and lost my entire garden once on June 10--replanted and still did well in producing.
Reply:Take heart dear! All is not lost. Your Grandmother was right. But you can salvage whats left. You can go garden.org and find out your zone. Also your local extension office Will be able to help you. There are so many web sites that can help you. There are too many to name. Learn2grow.com is another one.Good luck!

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