First frost of the season good reminder to protect the plants outside your home

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The New Year is off to a cold start. Many people in the Central Valley woke to frost on the roof, on the car and on the ground.

And, depending what is on the ground outside of your home could be cause for concern.

"With frost you got to be worried about your citrus, your succulents, anything that may be considered an indoor plant that you might have on your porch," said Betsy Thornburg, Belmont Nursery.

She adds any flowers blooming also need to be protected when temperatures drop below freezing.

Your best weapon of defense is a "Frost Cloth" the cotton material can purchased at any nursery or hardware store.

"The good thing about this air and water can go through it. So it doesn't hurt the plant to actually to leave it on all day. But if we get into a stretch where we are not freezing with nice sunny afternoons you can take it off," she said.

If don't have a "Frost Cloth," Thornburg says to use an old cotton sheet with a pole to place it just above your plants.

But Thornburg does not recommend using a plastic tarp since that could cut off the flow of air to your plants.

Watering your plants the night before will provide insulation down in the soil

But the cold isn't the worst thing for certain plants.

"It will kill overwintering insects that were bugging you last year. They need a good cold snap to get rid of those. It helps thing go dormant that need to go dormant," said Thornburg.

For example Roses benefit the most since they need a downtime.

The colder temperatures allow them to sleep during the winter giving them energy for a full blossom in the spring.