Re: L. cardinalis hardiness in UK was: Cannas plus Lobelias and Crocosmias

The message <E13SYXD-0002ox-00@dfw-mmp1.email.verio.net>
  from  "Marge Talt" <mtalt@clark.net> contains these words: 


> Janet - and Valerie, this is most curious to me.  Assume your -8 is
> Celsius, which  = 17.6 Fahrenheit, according to the best converter
> I've found on the
> web...http://www.metricusa.com/Conversion_Frameset2.htm

> If this is so, then Lobelia cardinalis should be perfectly hardy in
> anything your winter can throw at them.  Gets colder than that in my
> garden  - and even colder in Dean's, and mine are happy as clams at
> the edge of my "bog"....so it can't be winter damp that accounts for
> winter losses in the UK, either, as the ground is pretty soggy where
> mine are.

> Only reason that occurs to me that these plants might not be
> considered hardy in the UK is the lack of really hot summers to ripen
> them....but I always thought they were plants who actually preferred
> cooler weather.

> Or, wonder if some myth is being passed down through the ages about
> the hardiness of this species...happens..

> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@clark.net
> Editor:  Gardening in Shade
> -----------------------------------------------

Marge,

That's interesting. I think it may well be a myth. It may be that L. 
cardinalis is so prone to slug attack when it first emerges in spring 
that in practice it can be a reasonable idea in some areas to pot it 
up for the winter and then plant it back out again when it's got a 
few inches of growth on it.  
 Janet Galpin, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK, Min temp: -8

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