What's looking Exotic in 2022

The Bougainvillea variety 'Violet de Mèze' (B. spectoglabra) is the hardiest. Quite distinctive with smaller flowers than the others, bright purple. The nurseries reckon root hardy down to -8°C. Wouldn't it be worth pruning the Brugs for insurance cuttings? A few stems of each stuck in a tall glass of water root quickly and wait quite happily until spring with a change of water from time to time.
I proved last year that Aeoniums won't take frost. Although they'd survived in a fleeced pot outside by the house wall, a big, strapping plant planted in a sheltered border ended up as mush.
I'm not much looking forward to this weekend. -5°C forecast for three nights in a row after quite a bit of rain this evening and tomorrow. Not good for Agaves!

 

My mushy Aeoiniums today, I look out the ones I wanted to save.
Up against house wall at minus 3c.

 

The Bougie i have, which is quite hardy has flowers along the stems rather than others I have noticed that seem to have the flowers in terminal heads.

 

I find things get grey mould in the greenhouse, but if I put them in my garage its a lot less.
The garage doesn't heat up during the day like the greenhouse does on sunny days so the condensation is a lot less.
And the garage is pretty draughty I open the big doors most days and only keep them shut on sub zero days.

 

I brought my 2 pots of Clivias in last night & then put them out later this morning - it's an exercise I shall have to repeat every day now for the next week or 10 days!

 

I'm chancing it and letting my greenhouse heated section get down to 2.5 C. I've mostly got Australian shrubs, citrus and cymbidiums, not much that goes mushy. So I'm hoping keeping the roots quite dry will help them get through. A bit different from last winter where we just had one mild frost in early March!

 

I noticed that last summer. 'Coconut Ice' is a pretty plant but all the flowers were in a clump at the end of the stem. It doesn't seem to want to climb, either. Do you give yours any winter protection, @pete?

 

The Strelitzia has been there about 15yrs now so it's seen worse weather than we are getting at the moment it's under it's winter cover now along with the Protea and some potted stuff.
I had the purple Bougie planted between the Strelitzia and the Protea but after a few years it became too rampant so I had to kill it off, but I took cuttings before hand.
I dry them off and put them in the garage over winter.
It used to get cut back by the frost to the height of my cover but grew new stems 8 ft long at least each year.
If you could plant somewhere where the rootstock remains frost free it's very possible outside.

 

Goodness @pete I didn't realise bougie was so robust

 

I'll put some pictures up later .
As @noisette47 said some are hardier than others, I don't know the variety I have but it is fairly hardy.

 

You do need to find the right spot and winter protection is a must.

On another forum I use they were discussing Bougie growing up house walls in places like London, some were pretty big plants and had survived for years unprotected apart from the effects of the buildings.

 

He's just showing off now ....having to kill it off because it grew too well pffft And succeeding with cuttings!