The hard winter of 2009 caught me unprepared, and the only protection that I gave my revolutas was a tarpaulin, hastily thrown over the top, and weighted down, so that it didn't fly off.
When I eventually uncovered, they looked in a dreadful state, I was gutted, I really thought that I had killed my favourite plants.
But I was amazed when June came around and I was rewarded with the beginnings of fabulous flushes of more than 30 new fronds on each.
As winter 2010 approached, I was determined that I would make a far better job of protection for my revolutas than I did previously....
First thing I did was to stuff scrunched up balls of horticultural fleece on the crown of the caudex. No skimping. This was about 4 or 5 inches deep.
This can be quite tricky because of the prickly nature of revolutas, so I carefully pushed the fleece into place using a bamboo cane.
Next thing was to bind the fronds tightly together using string and wire.
My thinking was was that bound tightly, they would keep warmer than being loosely bound.
Next the unprotected caudex would have the cat's fleece blanket folded over, and wrapped around, and then I used a spare roll of weed supressing membrane, which was wrapped around the caudex, and crucially I believe, it covered the surrounding soil to protect from frosts.
But similarly with the potted revoluta, the pot and soil was wrapped protected from feeling the frosts.
Once this was done, I then proceeded to wrap the fronds with layers of horticultural fleece.
As before, no skimping. I went round and round and round, and over the top too...
When I had decided that was sufficient, gardening wire was wound around to hold it all in place.
Finally, I borrowed the wife's thick towelling dressing gown.
Well she wanted a new one for Christmas anyway....
Yes it was a lot of effort and perhaps excessive, but then, who would have guessed that this part of Essex would plummet to minus 14, very nearly minus 15...!!
I wouldn't protect all my plants to this level, but for me, I have two very special Cycas revolutas and they are completely worth the effort.
When they were finally unwrapped at the end of February after being in their coccoon for nearly 4 months, I think that the end justified the means....
And now that the fronds have relaxed a little after their prolonged binding....
I am not going to claim that they are undamaged, but considering that this is after minus 14 I am chuffed to bits with how they now look....
and there it is dragged backwards and forwards every year with the promise of a permanent planting.