How to overwinter

Hello everyone.... I would like some advice on how to overwinter the following plants : Brugmansia, Tibuchina, Passionflower, Loquat. These are all in pots right now. They are too big to bring into the house. I do have a small plastic covered, unheated greenhouse...... Or maybe wrapping the pots well with newspaper or bubble wrap.... and putting against the house?? I live on Vancouver Island in what I believe is a zone 8 ? Thanks for any advice. Marilyn

 

The loquat will do okay as long as the soil doesn't freeze. Zone 8 is probably safe for it. The others not so much. We lose brugmansia and passionflower to winter's chill most years. They can come back from the roots when in the ground, again if the roots don't freeze. Tibuchina is even more tropical. The only chance for that one is the small greenhouse, and insulating the pot with whatever you have available.

 

Depends upon what type of passionflower you have - Passiflora caerulea should survive without issue; I occasionally lose my mature vines but they always come back and spread out from the roots.
As for the loquat, mine has been inground for about 6 years and I know of others here in Vancouver with much older and larger trees than mine (they have even fruited)
I have not had any luck overwintering Tibuchina outside, not even in an unheated greenhouse. Your best chance with this one might be to take a cutting and overwinter that inside

Hope this helps

 

A friend here in Vancouver hated the Tibouchina that came with her property, but which refused to die. Maybe there are cultivars that are more cold tolerant. I agree on the the Loquat - have seen them around Vancouver.
Does it make a difference that they are in the ground and not in pots?

 

Thanks everyone for your advice..... I do have 2 Tibuchinas.... so maybe I can put one of them in the ground and try to keep the other potted one in the greenhouse...wrapping it for insulation. Re the Passion flower ... it is the "Temptation" variety which I was told was not so hardy as some of the others.....so maybe I will also try to put that into the ground and hope for the best ( would a heavy mulch help ? ) I don't really have anywhere to put the loquat into the ground, so again maybe wrap the pot well, put in greenhouse and hope for the best...... maybe we will get lucky and get a mild winter . Thanks again everyone.

 

From what I can see Passiflora 'Temptation' is listed as zone 9 so not that cold hardy.

That being said, I planted a Strelitzia alba - white bird of paradise - in my covered garden last summer because it was too big to bring inside (it was almost 10ft in height at the time); I knew I would lose it but had no other options. I had several other tender plants close to it so in late fall I threw dry straw over them and hoped for the best. Come spring there was nothing of the Strelitzia but a stump so I cut it off level with the ground because the root ball was too big to dig out. I then placed some potted plants in the area and forgot about it until early June when I noticed one of the pots leaning. When I moved the pot there were thick leaves sprouting from the roots of the Strelitzia - it had actually survived and is still growing nicely. So if this can survive, you have a chance.......

Try keeping your plants in a dry location and if you leave them potted make sure you insulate the pots really well to protect the roots from the sides of the pots. The other option to insulating the pots would be to actually bury the pot in the ground to help protect the roots - they won't grow that much between now and spring so it won't be difficult to dig up

FYI, my covered garden is a plastic covered hoop greenhouse 16 x 9ft; the ground slopes but we leveled the frame so it at the far end it is over 9ft tall. During the summer it gets very hot inside but because the ends are 50% open, the winter temperature inside are only a degree or so above the outside temperature. I think the secret to the Strelitzia having survived is that the ground inside did not freeze, and because it stayed dry it did not have a chance to rot which seems to be one of the biggest problems with overwintering plants in Vancouver

 

Thanks pmurphy .... I am now thinking the answer might be to bury the pots in the ground in the greenhouse ....( that way they would be insulated and dry) ... and dig them out next spring before new growth starts. ..... The Strelitzia sounds awesome !

 

Hi - re: Brugmansia overwintering

I raise brugs and have been extremely successful in overwintering and perfecting the longevity of both the warm/cold groups

my success is due to three musts

1. if in a pot - let the season come to end naturally.

I live on VCR ISL and my secret is that I wait for "Mother Nature"
-if we have an Indian summer I will harvest on key days Oct 31 &/or Nov 11th


-harvesting to me equates to: cutting the plant to shape (think-what you want it to look like when it grows new"green") keep in mind that when you cut you will most likely loose 1-2" due to healing of the membranes

-spray with an insecticide if you experienced mite issues throughout the season I typically am okay with not spraying (if you are bring the brug inside to a warm house PLEASE do this), otherwise no need if it is stored into a cold house/garage/cold dark room

- make sure you water the pot deeply - you will not have to do this again for months ...... Brugs should never be saturated while in dormancy/storing AND they should never be allowed to completely dry out

- start to water again in very late FEB/MARCH pending on the winter temps

20-20-20 or 17-17-17 when you see that it wants to grow - now would be a good time to start to harden off the cycle of re-introduction into the new climate change

If you do not want to drag your pot into that cold space - it is OKAY to store the brug root ball in a burlap wrap

PS I have found that -5 is okay re: the last temp that the brug can survive and one frosty night covered with snow ......

 

Thanks LizB ..... that's great info on the brugs ...... mine were given to me this summer as cuttings that had been started. They are in 6 inch pots and about 1 foot high...and very full with big leaves, so I'm not sure I will need to do the cutting back part ?.I was thinking of putting them in my small plastic covered greenhouse, but I see you say to keep them in the dark, so that is probably not a good idea....maybe in a shed...it does have some windows but I don't think it would be as bright/light as the greenhouse would be. Thanks so much for your detailed information. ( -5 !! wow).

 

Hi - dark is not necessary ..... if you can place them in the covered COLD greenhouse, that will be better. If you send me a photo I will guide you on where to cut the arms, reminding you of course - that it is TOO early to prep them for cold storage as they still have a handful of weeks to grow and perhaps give you a bud or two

 

Thanks again Liz..... I'm not very technical, so don't know how to pot pictures. Anyway, my 3 brugs are quite small.... probably only 12 inches high, o I don't think I will need to cut them....at least not until next spring ? I am just going to put them in my ( plastic covered) greenhouse, make sure they don't dry out, and hope for the best. I am not going to bury them in the ground, o still not sure if I need to wrap the pots with some insulation. I don't think I will be having any heat source in there.