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Carolina Gardening

cold hardiness of Umbrella Plant

CasaLester RTP, NC (7b)

8 years ago

This is another post-Swap topic that needs to be addressed. We listed our shared samples of Cyperus alternifolius a.k.a. involucratus under "Not hardy patio plants" because our previous research showed many Web sites listing it as a USDA Zone 9 plant, qualifying that in Zone 8-9: "plants will die back with frost, but may survive the winter and put out new foliage in spring if the roots remain unfrozen". This same statement comes from the reputable sites such as Missouribotanicalgarden.org and Floridata.com. Because in our Zone 7b area, soil may freeze 4-5" deep, we thought that it was more unlikely than likely that Umbrella Plant would survive in the ground. However, visiting the JC Raulston Arboretum after the Swap we encountered a large clump of Cyperus alternifolius in V03 that has been there since 2004, so it looks that its winter survival here is not that problematic. We are definitely going to test it in the ground.

Does anyone have any experience with that?

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Comment (1)

trianglejohn
8 years ago
Even when I lived in zone 6b I have seen it sometimes overwinter. If it was planted up next to a brick wall and we had a warm and sunny winter. I think there is more to its survival than the cold temps, I think the moisture level plays a role and how severe the weather was during the summer. I've heard that some plants can handle winter cold better if they don't go through a hot summer. I'm always surprised at what survives and what dies over the winter. I've seen delicate tropicals survive and hard core northern plants fail.
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