Tender Spots

Judging whether a plant is hardy enough to survive in your garden is a tricky business. Of course, hardiness zones can act as a rough guide, but often there maybe many individual micro-climates contained within one garden. You can often find spots where you can grow plants which normally are too tender for your locality.

For example, in my garden half-hardy plants (that is those hardy down to 0 degrees Celsius) should not survive over winter. However, in a sheltered nook between the fence and the greenhouse, close to our cottage, petunias, Helichrysum petiolare and Argyranthemum frutescens all survived the winter, whilst those further down the garden perished. Similarly, the climber Solanum jasminoides 'Album' flourishes on a fence near the housewall, although it does lose its leaves during the coldest months.

Sometimes you can't quite predict which are the most sheltered spots. On a west facing wall in my garden, the passion flower (Passiflora caerulea) loses its leaves during the winter, whilst on the fence opposite it retains its foliage.

Many gardens contain frost pockets, so it is wise to locate these areas and only use the most hardy plants there. Frost tends to roll down hill, and if it is stopped by a barrier, then a frost pocket results. An example would be if a garden sloped downhill to a brick wall - it is likely that the area in front of the wall would be a frost pocket, spelling death to tender plants.

Often people ask whether it is better to grow tender plants in pots - the answer is "it depends"! Growing in pots does give you the chance to move vulnerable pots into a greenhouse or under cover when severe weather strikes. Container growing is also useful for those plants that are susceptible to wet conditions, as drainage can be better in pots. On the other hand, the plant roots are more likely to be frozen solid in pots, than if planted in the ground.

If you choose to grow your tender plants in the ground, then there are ways to protect them. For a start, don't chop them back or prune them until the spring, as the old growth helps to protect against cold damage. A mulch around the base of susceptible plants will help protect the roots, as will a covering of horticultural fleece. Finally, never be too quick to discard a seemingly dead plant in the spring - the top growth may be dead, but often the plant may rejuvenate from the roots.

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