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Re: 5) El Nino and Protecting plants?

>To: matttrahan@ecsu.campus.mci.net
>From: stamper@highfiber.com (sp)
>Subject: Re: 5) El Nino and Protecting plants? 
>Cc: 
>Bcc: 
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>
>Hello Matt, 
>
>> It depends on the oleander variety and your USDA zone. We are zone 8, just
>>on the border of zone 7. We grow them in the ground in a fairly protected
spot.
>> The regular red ones are generally hardiest here. If we have a mild winter,
>>they bloom the next summer. If not, they survive, look windburned and
>>generally like hell, and we hope for a milder winter next year.
>
>You called it! The oleanders I have are the "hardy red," bad thing about
hybrids are they usually lose a desireable trait like fragrance! :( Anyhow
I'm in 7a I believe, some say 7b and on a wider general map we're in zone 6.
I like the thought of being in a higher zone! :]
>
>>take the time to prune off each dead leaf, we only have 3 plants.
>> 2 years ago, while we were having the winter from hell (for this area
>>anyway), our 'reds' died back almost all the way to the ground. They came
>>back fine (but slowly) and bloomed for the first time this summer (well
>>worth the wait).
>
>I have one oleander that died to the ground but grew very well this summer
and bloomed profusely so I'm guessing that the same thing will happen this
year with them. 
>
>> The regular whites and pinks are the next hardiest, then the double yellow,
>>then the dwarfs(up to 5ft). This area lost a lot of dwarfs 2 years ago.
>
>Are any of the above fragrant? I'm really interested in getting a fragrant
& hardy plant, pref. white to put next to the pond. 
>
>
>> As a guess, the passiflora will probably be much less hardy. You could
>>remove it from its support, lay it on the ground and cover it with a 3-6
>>inch layer of dirt (like they do further north for climbing roses and fig
>>trees.)
>
>So should I wait until the freeze comes and freezes the plant or should I
do that now? Wouldn't the plant die back because of the lack of light? I'm
curious about the whole cover-the-plant technique. I put about a 3" layer of
cyperus mulch around it. The vine is quite small It's only about a foot (it
was grown froma  cutting in spring) 
>
>> During the fall, I have to drag in all the tropicals. The more "tropicals"
>>that are "mostly hardy", the more I can leave outside. :-)
>
>I hear ya! :D
>
>Sujan
>
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