The Frost Test??

I've decided to put some plants to "Kim's Frost Test" he he he. So I wanted to know if anybody else experiments like this? I have read or heard of plants not hardy to my zone. Last year I grew a few plants, that are supposed to be hardy to zone 8. Not only did they come back..but stayed green through the winter and flowered their hearts out! Nowwww I read an article about this Dr. and how he got some roses to bloom in -20 degrees temps. He did research on them for years and even grafted some. Not that I'm anywhere close to doing this...LOL. Also what does that matter...we all know roses are hardy...LMAO! But I've decide to put some plants to the test! The worst that can happen is...They wont come back..For me...Noooo problem. I'll just grow another one! LOL LOL But here's what I'm putting to the test this year:

1. Callalily
2. Tuberose
3. Peacock Orchid
4. Brugmanias (Yeahhh yeahh go ahead and laugh!)
5. Tinantia Erecta
6. Purple Fountain grass
7. Pavonias
8. Ipomoea batatas (still laughing?)
9. Antirrhinum Majus "Torbay Rock" (suppose to be perennial)
10. Asarina Maurandya
11. Abelmoschus
12. Cortaderia selloana Rosea
15. Crinums
16. Ruellias
17. Cyperus

I got guts huh???? Time will tell. It gets cold here but I can't really remember when it goes below 20. Last year there was 2 feet of snow on the ground and it was 35 degrees.

I push the zone quite often too, sometimes i wind sometimes i lose. The amount of snow on the ground is very important here. Lots of winters we get hardly any snow, that is when plants have a problem. good luck with yours and let us know the results next spring. Donna

I used to live in Lancaster zone 6 - now I live in Ithaca, NY zone 5. I grow a few things here that are zone 6 or 7. I have Taube and Nikko blue hydrangea that are zone 6, but if we have an average winter and lots of snow cover, they will bloom. Winter's like last year (prolonged periods of -25 to -20 weather - I'm just glad they lived over, no blooms this year - except one tiny Nikko blue bloom (was heavily mulched with leaves).

We find that if we get early and good snow cover (like starting mid November), sometimes the ground never freezes. This happened several years in a row. My pampas grass that I bought in Lancaster on a trip in 02 and brought back up here lived over. Last winter 2 out of 3 died. I have one white pampas - the hardiest one, that lived over this year but also didn't bloom this year.

How successful you are will probably depend on how much snow cover you get. Lancaster usually only got a couple inches every year - but in '96 we had a snowstorm that dumped 40" in 2 days. That was the year we left. Guess it got us ready for Ithaca!

Hmmmm...I saw on the news last night. That the last time it snowed in October was 1940...LOL LOL. Well I remember when I was a girl it snowed on Thanksgiving day. That was a wonderful surprise! I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.