Tropicals & Tender Perennials: The "trials of winter" (no pun intended), 0 by gothqueen

gothqueen wrote:
We all know winter is hard on plants. Even those of us who have relatively mild winters. I am really, really feeling sympathetic for all those folks in the areas where its frozen solid and the power is out. I've never really had to go through that, so I really don't know what its like, but I am certain its pure hell.

But these are a different sort of trials. Plant trials. Every winter I conduct regular plant trials to see if I can find out if some plants I have that are supposed to be too tropical for my climate will actually survive here planted outside the confines of either a container that has to be hauled in and out or inside the greenhouse.

The first one has been a success for 2 years. Tricolor stromanthe. This was "the" hot plant around here 2 years ago. It hit the box stores and everyone fell in love with it. I put one in my greenhouse and it overgrew the space really fast. Then a friend gave me 5 that she had no use for. I decided to trial them out. I was told that there was "no way, ABSOLUTELY NO WAY" that they would survive here by the lady who works at the County Extension Office. In fact, she even published that opinion in the local paper in a column she writes.

But I took the 5 unwanted plants my friend gave me and planted them in several different locations in my yard. Some are in protected places, some not at all.

The concensus is, IT MAKES IT HERE. This plant has frozen to the ground 2 winters in a row and come back. It's about the diameter of a big round platter. I have 2 others up by the house that are much larger, because its warmer and they never die completely back.