New member, getting through winter

Hi all,

Although new I've been readng messeges from this site for about a year now. Anyway a few surprises this year:-

All the tuberous begonias that I have planted in pots and in the ground last year all came back up and grew as normal this year; I thought they were not hardy! They seem to have acted like perennials!

Bought some coco yams from Leeds market in Feb, roughly 10 for about £2 all of them grew and produced half decent plants for the garden. I don't see the point in overwintering them if they are this cheap to buy. Has anybody else found this?

Gonna leave large opuntia otside in the ground this winter as it was fine in a cold frame last year. Will it survive?

 

Hi Yorkshiregardener
Just spotted you.
Welcome to GC and enjoy your stay.
Sorry I cannot answer your Qs but I know there are some who can on this great forum
Robert from York

 

Welcome to the forum Yorkshiregardener.
I just leave my Dahlia tubers in the ground overwinter and most of them come back.
It's not the cold that does for Dahlias and begonias but the wet so if your ground and pots are fairly dry that is why they will have got through the winter.
Sorry I can't tell you about your other plants - never heard of them.
Maybe you could tell us so that we don't miss out on anything. The coco yams sound interesting.

 

Coco yams are what Colocasia Ensulenta are called on fruit and veg stalls!

Some fruit and veg stalls, especially west Indian ones sell a range of tubers that can be used for cooking but I prefer to grow them. They also sell proper yams and other tubers that are labelled as coco-yams which I think are other types of colocasia.

They great thing about buying these plants this way is that they are really cheap so if they all don't grow its only a few pence lost.

 

Hi there!

I have colocasia - some of which i use as marginals in my pond. I tend to lift them all and keep them in a frost free greenhouse over winter - barely watered so that they dont rot. As you say, if they are cheap to buy it may be worth risking leaving them in the garden. Maybe with a good mulch over them to " tuck them up".
Opuntia ( cactus) i would put in your cold frame again. I also put mine in the greenhouse just to be sure they dont get the worst of the cold weather on them. They look awful if damaged by frost/snow

Hope this helps and welcome!

 

Thank you Wilroda,

Regarding the opuntia I've seen on several websites that some people have successfully kept Opuntia in the ground all year round so I thinks its worth a try. Also the big opuntia that i've got in the ground would be a devil to lift out of the ground without getting stung by the barbs and thorns.

I will try leaving the Colocasia in the ground as i've got nothing to lose. My only thought would be that they wont start into growth until really late into the year.

 

We have a number of Opuntias on our Tropical roundabout here and they came through last winter (a bad one for this area). They have flowered in summer too. Your location is different and normally much colder so I would go along and suggest overwintering in your frame or possibly risk losing it.

All Colocasias need warm temperatures to start growth after dormancy so they may not show any till May unless we have a really warm April. An extremely wet winter could cause them to rot completely.

 

Hi Strongylodon,

Ah Weymouth and Portland, one of my favourite areas of the country. Having Abbotsbury Gardens close by must be a great source of inspiration. The roundabouts with their cacti and palm trees are very impressive.

So far I've ben really lucky in the last couple of winters as its only reached -6 on a few nights each winter. I must have my own microclimate as only 5-10 miles away it easily got to about -8/-9 last winter.

On another topic is Thalia dealbata hardy if grown in the ground?

 

There are a wide number of Opuntia species and even more hybrids.

I had several out last winter, some were fine and i lost a couple. If you have space to put it under cover then do so, or at least tuck the pot up against a house wall as it will benefit from some of the heat loss as well as hopefully being slightly more protected from rain/snow.

It may be worth rooting a pad from it and trying that out next year, that way you can test if the one you have has some resistance to cold (and wet).

gaz

 

Depends on local conditions. So many of these plants are grown to the limit of hardyness.

I had two plants left in a small pond which froze over last winter, both came though fine (we had -8 and a near fortnight of snow) and one rewarded me with a flower spike this year. :gnthb: