Zone 5b here. We are getting frost advisories… How can I winterize these lil guys?
by SharkSquishy
Zone 5b here. We are getting frost advisories… How can I winterize these lil guys?
by SharkSquishy
2 Comments
Leave them in the ground – they’re hardy and need dormancy.
Cover with mulch heavily – cover crowns with 3–6″ of pine needles, oak leaves, or straw to insulate from freeze/thaw. Avoid maple leaves (they mat too dense).
Protect from salt/snow melt runoff – sidewalk salt kills them. Put up a plastic/plywood shield or burlap barrier if there will be salt on that walkway.
Optional extra cold protection – lay burlap or frost cloth over mulch in extreme cold snaps.
Come spring, remove mulch gradually so new growth isn’t smothered.
If thats just in a pot I wouldn’t really do anything until its well below 30F. If I were you I’d dig a hole into the ground and place the pot so its flush with the soil, but be mindful of nutrients that could leech in so maybe line the hole or something. The ground is a massive thermal buffer so if you have your potted plants in the soil I wouldn’t do anything additional until it starts hitting below 20F. After that you can do the mulching u/skyhighaero said. Once you start getting temps thats 10F and below consistently I would move that into an unheated shed/garage til the temps come back up to above 20F. If you cant do that then you could just put the pot your in your fridge till the temps come back up. That plant looks like a purpurea hybrid and the other one is another hybrid, hybrids are all over the place with how hardy they are but you shouldn’t expect it to be has hardy as a purpurea which you basically don’t have to do anything to winterize it in zone 5b.