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Show Peach trees hit hardest by cold from the cold temperatures. "Again, the best solution is wait and see the extent of the damage," he said. "Many plants lose their leaves and some wiU suffer die-back die-back of the wood. Fortunately, because of snow cover around the base of the plants, they will come back up from the roots, he said. Another phenomenon that occurs with extremely cold temperatures is frost cracks. These occur in the trunks of trees. They are the result of the wood, with a high moisture content, freezing solid. The resulting split leaves a gap in the bark. This generally closes naturally nat-urally and the bark overgrows the damage after a period of years, he said. "Again, the recommendation is to do nothing with one exception," he said. "If the crack penetrates through the tree, the tree should be bolted back together to help restore structural strength." Record cold temperatures this winter have had a profound effect on plants, with potential damage to fruit crops and even fruit trees, said a Utah State University horticulturist. hor-ticulturist. While it is too early to assess the total damage, it appears that some stone fruit, particularly the peaches, may have already been damaged, said Larry Sagers, with USU Cooperative Coop-erative Extension Service. Sagers said there is little, if anything, that can be done to avoid future damage. "Delay pruning until you can assess the damage to the woody parts of the plant and the buds and flowers," he said. "There is no cure in terms of a spray on any other application to overcome the effects of the cold winter. ' He said ornamental plants are also affected by the cold temperatures. Broad leaf evergreens including euonymus, laurels, holly, and others, show severe die-back |