This little cutie from Taiwan is looking good after the cold snap. I did pull it inside for the real hard freezes, which has prodded it into most welcome early bloom... Would be nice to see this plant more, but very rarely offered by BC nurseries. UBC botanical garden has some nice big specimens that are around 20 years old, I believe. Apologies for the blurry photo, first day with new (cheap) camera...
I have two young plants of C. transnokoensis in the ground. I did fear for them this winter; we have gone to 8 degrees F. twice now, with strong wind and snow on the ground. Neither one shows any sign of leaf damage (I expect the flower buds were damaged). I am very pleased by their apparent hardiness- this is a plant I spent years looking for!
Hi Terry--I'm due north of you, just the other side of the border. Yes, we've had some challenging cold snaps this winter...courtesy of the Fraser Valley that funnels those arctic outflows down over both of us. I'm also at 425 feet which adds to the "fun". As long as the plants are under snow, which I've had lots during both arctic events, there is little problem. Things poking up above the snow line have gotten fried...it will get tougher if things ever grow large and don't bend down under the falling snow! So far my 3 little transnokoensis are easily protected...the ones at UBC are huge but protected amongst the forest of the Lam garden, not to mention the much better climate there at the tip of Point Grey compared to places like ours.
Yes, the northeast winds have been bad this winter. But because we do get the wind (from both directions here) we had significant drifting during both of the storms. One of my little camellias did end up in a snow drift during the first storm; the other was in an area that did not get drifted, so it was exposed. The second storm, both plants were above the snow. Neither one shows much leaf damage. Are yours all in pots? That would make them more susceptible to damage. These two plants are in their 2nd winter. Last year they went to 10 degrees with no snow, wind, no damage. This year we have gone to 8degrees twice, with wind, but snow insulating the ground. I know from my research the the hardiness is uncertain, but the ones at UBC are old enough to have gone through the winters of '89 and '90, which were certainly colder than this.
