When to bring plants in for the winter

20 years ago

Hi fellow UK gardeners,

I need some advice about when to bring my tropical plants in for the winter. In particular I am having a problem knowing when to bring my canna lillies in. I was told by the garden center I got them from to bring them in as soon as they died down.

Up to Christmas they remained throwing up a succession of flowers. They were hit by a hard frost (hard for here anyway prob -1) and died down about 1 week after Christmas.

I went out today to dig them up and bring them in, but find they have 4 inch new shoots re-grown in just a matter of two weeks. The taro has also grown 6 inches abgain and teh rothschild lillies are re-shooting straight away too, also the swiss cheese plants. All tropical arums - dragon arums, titans and the like are growing very fast again, some have grown over 1ft since the frost knocked them back.

Should I just bring them in and put them in boxes anyway - or what?

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Comments (6)

shrubs_n_bulbs
20 years ago
Depending on where you live, Cannas may be hardy enough to leave in the garden. I don't bring mine in and the temperature has been a long way below -1C! Good drainage helps for most plants. Plants in pots will be less hardy. You might have problems if plants grow repeatedly and get knocked back by frost, mine just don't show up until about May.

Except for the moors, Devon is zone 9 meaning the typical lowest temperature of the winter will be above -6.7C. Especially in recent years I imagine you haven't even come close to that.
rubbleshop
Original Author
20 years ago
Yes, I'm in a sheltered gorge in Paignton where I can grow swiss cheese plants outside all winter and they flower every janaury. I am in a sea-facing swamp though, where the fog from the gulf stream creeps up the valley causing a damp warm fog a lot of the time.

How about Rothschild lillies, tropical arums and taro.

I was warned that overwintering taro was hard, but so far they have not noticed the winter much. They definitely take a frost even with their corms exposed above soil.
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Hello Rubbleshop! Because you are living in Devon, save yourself the trouble of digging up the Canna in zone 8 (9). I had a small group of them in my cottage garden in Berley, Hampshire - and they did quite well during the winter for years. Give them at least 6 cm of mulch as with "Elephant Ears" (Colocasia esculenta and most Alocasia species). Here in Atlanta, Ga., U.S. all of the above survived a couple of wicked Janurary temps down to -8 to -9 degrees for weeks. And from what I have experienced, Cannas never become dormant when stored indoors. They continue to grow in temperatures above 10 C even without light and water, and look like an awful mess. (Years ago when I stored them indoors unnecessarily while in the UK, I looked at them and thought, "My goodness, even I look better than that"). I was quite suprised to see Gloriosa rothschildiana ("Glorious Lily")also spring up from the ground here in zone 8, being a native of tropical Kenya and Uganda. My problem is having them in a container planted with Pachypodium lamerii (Madagascar Palm). Gloriosa lily will begin new growth again in the winter months indoors after it has died back to the ground, and this new growth becomes etiolated (stretched and yellowed) - then dies back due to a lack of light and water. This kills the plant emerging from the tubor, plus the tubor itself -so keep them outdoors in zone 8 with a mulch. Rubbleshop, do you have a botanical name for the "swiss cheese plant"? Admittedly, I am perfectly lousy with the vernacular names as they change from country to country. Could your mean a Monstera or Philodrendron species? Sorry if that seems a bit too technical. John_Z
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stevethelizard
20 years ago
WOW BY TITANS DO YOU MEAN AMORPHOPHALLUS TITANUM?? if so you are very lucky to have them outside at all.I really envy you a good microclimate, here in oxfordshire i lost about 100 bananas to the first heavy frost cos my green house heater decided to fail that night
rubbleshop
Original Author
20 years ago
Hi Stevethelizard,

Titan arums are much hardier than bananas. They don't die of cold, just stop growing and all lost growing time is added onto the time before they are likely to flower, which is 7 years from seed if kept about 10 degrees C all the time.

I can't overwinter Cavendish bananas (any type) outside. Zebrina and Orinoco are touch and go outside and MUST be protected from wind chill. Bit of thin fleece does that. Musella normally keeps it's leaves. Coccina just makes it, but only just. Paradisiaca does OK, better than sikkimensis!, sikkimensis survives but doesn't like it here much and is slow restarting. Obviously velutina and ornata don't like it outside here. Itinerans is OK under trees but not in the full wind. Obviously basjoo is fine and flowers here. This year I am growing a few new types too (mannii and nagensium) but don't know how they will grow yet.

Which type(s) did you lose? and what temperature?
stevethelizard
20 years ago
i lost musa cheesemanii and itinerans and i think it was about -7C but the velutina i had under the bench were ok they have resprouted from the corm i think one or two of the cheesemanii may sprout but im not too hopeful. mostly i have to dig up and bring in everything even the basjoo gets put in a frost free place bare root they would do ok in the ground but up here on the cotteswolds you can get some bitter winds so i think its better to be safe than sorry and i like the height.
flora_uk
20 years ago
I was forced to leave my Meyer lemon outside this winter because builders have cut off access to the conservatory. It's still there (with a bit of fleece on cold nights). It has several lemons on it and the usual scale insect infestation is looking distinctly peeky. With a bit of shelter it has come through some very low temps.

When to bring plants in for the winter

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shrubs_n_bulbs

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When to bring plants in for the winter

Comments (6)

shrubs_n_bulbs

rubbleshopOriginal Author

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stevethelizard

rubbleshopOriginal Author

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rubbleshop
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