[pbs] Perceptions of Zones and Hardiness: Rhodohypoxis

Jim McKenney jimmckenney at starpower.net
Sat Feb 7 16:42:20 EST 2004


For years I assumed that it was just about axiomatic that marginally hardy
plants would winter better if kept dry. That's is a very broad
generalization. 

Four years ago I had to leave home for a month in mid-summer. There was a
mad scramble to get potted plants into the ground so they would not dry out
while I was gone. Among those were several pots of Rhodohypoxis. 

The Rhodohypoxis were planted in the bog trays; their companions were such
plants as Sphagnum, Drosera, Sarracenia, various bog orchids, cranberries
and so on. By the time winter rolled around, I had forgotten them.

Four years later, some of them are still there, more or less invisible
except when they bloom. The soil is either wet all winter or it's a block
of ice.

Jim McKenney
Montgomery County, Maryland, zone 7, where the ground in general is still a
block of ice.   



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