Hardy Tropicals UK

There is a garden round the corner from me with loads of cordy's completely unscathed.

The interesting bit is the garden is surrounded by some large tree's which form a canopy over the entire garden.

For cordys to survive the winter of 2009+2010 with no protection other than overhead tree cover it seems protecting from the rain is a surefire way to get stuff through. Would trees also protect from frost or offer any temp protection when it stayed in the minus for a long period?

Tree's would only provide a protecting canopy if they were evergreen...

You mean the winter of 2010-11? Nearly all Cordylines in the country survived winter 2009-10.

It's conceivable but even evergreen cover didn't help the Cordylines in the upper town here. The towns public Cordylines were planted under pine trees, and didn't make it through.. 2 are now outright dead and 1 is making a failing attempt at growing back.

Hello
I have a huge conifer tree out front with a clump of yuccas under neath it which survived last winter and they are at least 10 years old( already here when I bought the house). When it snowed the yuccas did not get any snow on them and also stayed pretty dry. I bet they would of pegged it without the tree being there. I also have a massive conifer out back where I stand pots under during winter. Trees such as conifers do make a difference as they keep the wet off which then stops the plants under them from freezing too much. My front garden is South facing so gets plenty of sun too.

I was informed by an expert , that last winter it was a nationwide virus that wiped out all cordy's & not just the weather. karl.

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I heard that but as far as I can tell its rubbish. The further north you get the more cordylines that died, a close correlation to the length and depth of the cold.

Just one left in nottingham i saw, planted really close to the house.
Definitly the freeze!