I am sure I am not the only one who has asked about this topic..
This is my first year with Musella lasiocarpa.. It did an amazing job this year and grew to almost 4 ft. So now the question is what do I do with this plant during out Seattle Washington(zone7/8) winter? It is in a large pot so it is moveable ... Is it necessary to bring it into the garage? Is it safe to leave unaided outside ?
Any tips with this plant would be appreciated
Chris
Musella lasiocarpa winter storage ??
I grew my lasiocarpa in the ground the first year and didn't protect it at all in its very exposed site. (Planted from pot in June and set quite deep for extra protectio.) The stem stayed firm though the leaves were frozen and dried up later. It started into growth the next spring before it had warmed very much at all. I was shocked and delighted.
It bloomed, though it was only a couple feet tall, and produced a dozen or so offsets. I potted these up and overwintered them in a basement (with some heat) and kept them very dry. I moved the plants outdoors when chance of freezing passed (late April-early May) and they have stayed in the same 1 gallon pots all this year......Bad ole me didn't get them into the ground.
So, if your plant was in the ground already, I'd say let it sit. Not sure about putting it in the ground this late. So you *could* keep indoors and warm if you have lots of light.. If you don't have a *lot* of light, try to keep it cool and dry, as they will grow year round if kept warm. I kept a huge banana (of some type) in out living room which was kept good n warm and the thing just kep popping, which was not good as the light was *very* bad.
But, I think you could keep it outdoors through temps around freezing for short periods, but I would bring it into the garage if the freezing temps last more than three days or if the temps in say, January dip below 30 F. (After the soil has thoroughly cooled and day temps don't warm it up.) You don't want the below ground parts to freeze, as the cold will reach the lower parts of a potted plant sooner (so to speak.) The ground here in NC's zone 7b rarely freezes for very long and never that far down into the ground anyway. I just can't say how freeze hardy the corm is.
Hope all this has helped.
raydio.