Will my lovely exotic plants handle our winter?

joeyvicks

Hello there,

Very inexperienced gardener, just getting into it really. Over the last few months i have planted a cordyline red star and phormium cookanium in my border and also a green cordyline in a pot, a buxus semperviren at my front door in a pot and a phormium black velvet in a pot down the bottom of my garden.
They're all looking lovely but i'm a bit concerned as to whats going to happen to them over the winter period? I'll be devastated if they're all killed off!!

CharlieBilly

Not sure on these plants but I know some exotic plants survive if they are in a sheltered place and or they are protected with some type of fleece and possible some mulch around the base of the plant lie straw or bark etc

Joly_Roger

Depends on where in the country you are, if you're in the south, the answer is (mostly) yes, midlands or above & I'd say they will survive if protected or sheltered during the worst parts of winter, the sub zero nights.

The green cordyline is much, much hardier than the feeble red one. I'd write the red star one off now, but it's no great loss as they look nice when small, but awful (IMO) when they mature, turning a muddy brown colour. I would leave the green cordyline in the pot with no protection. I've never lost one to frost and I've got about 20! If you plant the cordyline, it will take off and become a tropical looking tree in a decade.

I've never had a phorimum die on me, but they do tend to have exposed rhizomes, so you may want to mulch the one in the border and move the potted one close to the house, ideally on the south side. Being next to the house will give a lot of protection from radiation frosts at night and chilling winds. Plants in pots are much more likley to have their roots frozen, which can be a killer for tender plants, but it does allow you to move them to sheltered positions during bad weather.

The buxus is as hardy as nails!

alanobrien

Also depends on plant size, i lost a few green cordy's last year over winter and i am in the South East. Our lowest recorded temperature was -12c

foxgloves

I live in the North east midlands & the two phormiums I have in pots either side of our front door survived outside all winter despite frost, ice & lots of snow. I can't remember what variety they are, but they are dark green with pink stripes on the leaves.

Kay_Peel

Start making little overcoats for the Phormium and Cordiline youngsters! :rotfl:

If it's their first year in the border then it's best to prepare for the worst possible weather. You can buy little fleece bags with a draw-string tie to pop over their heads or you can use bubble wrap and string. I myself have got some hessian potato bags with a bit of straw in them.

Move the ones in pots to a warm wall or fence or outhouse/shed. Or make them a little overcoat too.

amcluesent

Persistent wet around the roots is worse than just cold, so it's best if these types of plant have lots of grit in the planting hole.

heynonnynonny

Both my cordys red and green, died over winter with no fleece protection. Wish I'd have made them jackets they were lovely. Cut them down and hoped they'd regrow but gave up yesterday and pulled them up, rotten all the way thorugh and barely any roots.

Money_maker

I'm in SE and lost 2 green potted cordylines over last winter - they weren't a bad size either. My red cordyline survived - he's planted in the ground and bigger (5-6').

It was a rough winter and basically killed most of the tender shrubs/perennials. Your buxus should be okay though!

Joly_Roger

Surprised that many people in the South East lost green cordylines. Microclimate does play a very significant part. If they're in the shade or on a North facing slope (our current garden is South facing, but sloping to the North), or in a permanently damp area that will decrease their chances.

Generally the further inland you are, the worse your chances too. The maritime influence acts as a thermal buffer, cooling in the summer, but warming in the winter, which takes the edge off hard frosts. That's why tropical plants do so well at our seasides.


As Amluscent suggested, good drainage helps a lot. Prolonged cold + wet = big problems!

I lost a massive red cordyline the Winter before last, it was about 10ft tall, my other 2 smaller red cordylines also died this winter, but I hated the colour of them anyway. The smaller ones looked nice when they were young and vibrant, but age was not their friend!


Here's a pic of 2 green cordylines in my old garden which had the ultimate microclimate for tender plants. How I miss that microclimate!

South facing, South sloping (this is really significant), terraced so no chilling northerly winds can blow down the side alley & fairly high fences.

Check out how big they got after 6 years in the ground.



Steel_2

Wow they look great!

I thought to start with they were twice as large as they actually are. It was only when I realised that stripey swing seat was for kids that I twigged it was an optical illusion and you don't live in a giant monster size house with 15-20ft trees!