RECORD COLD SNAP TAKES ITS TOLL HARDY PLANTS ARE BEST FOR AREA.

Byline: GIDEON RUBIN Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- Many Southland homeowners consider ornamental agapanthus, popularly called lily of the Nile, and lemon and avocado trees must-haves.

But with the Antelope Valley's propensity for extreme temperatures, the windmill palm might be a safer bet, according to area landscaper Brad Hayes.

He said results of the weekend's record-setting cold snap seem to support Charles Darwin's natural-selection theory.

``If you get a plant that's just completely melting down from the cold, then maybe it's just nature's way of saying it doesn't belong here,'' Hayes said.

He said residents can take steps to winter-proof their gardens. Hayes, who works at Palmdale's Greenbee Landscape Nursery, said he advises customers to water plants during daylight hours and cover their most vulnerable plants with cloth or burlap sheets -- not plastic -- at night. The wet earth, he said, attracts warmth, which radiates from the ground at night.

He said the area's fickle weather also should be factored into how gardens are mapped out. The most frost-sensitive plants do better closer to homes, which emit radiant heat, he noted.

He advises against fertilizing gardens in the winter because it promotes new growth, the most vulnerable to frost.

For those who don't think they can survive an Antelope Valley winter without color in their garden, Hayes said his personal favorite plant is the leafy Nandina domestica, a plant of Japanese origin commonly known as heavenly bamboo, which turns a reddish pink in cold weather.

The boxwood, whose emerald-green leaves turn bronze in the winter months, is another popular Antelope Valley plant.

Some tropical and semitropical plants that thrive in controlled environments often perish in a cold snap. The colorful bougainvillea is one such heartbreak plant.

``People want them so bad up here, and they try to make it work, but it never does,'' Greenbee manager Kris Carter said.

The best time to winter-proof your garden is during the winter, Hayes said.

``If you want to see what plants are going to look good in your garden in the winter, you've got to go shopping in the winter or at least make your list,'' Hayes said.

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(1 -- 2) To let in sunlight and prevent freezing, landscaper Brad Hayes of Greenbee Landscape Nursery in Palmdale moves mulch from a Nandina domestica, also known as a heavenly bamboo plant, above and at left.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer