Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
hey everyone, this year i bought a small cordyline austarlis, however i have heard that they are unreliable when it comes to hardiness so from anyones experience how hardy would you say they are? Im keeping mine in my conservatory this year with protection so it should be fine. But all the biggest ones in the area was cut to the ground by the 2010 winter.
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
-10c seems to kill the growth point lower and or prolonged cold kills them to the ground.
Most wanted list - Any Young Trachycarpus and/or fern.
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Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
Small Cordylines will need protection below around -3C to be on the safe side.
Trunked Cordyline australis are limited by the sap layer being just below the bark. If the sap layer freezes all the way round (not the trunk all the way through) the trunk dies. This is what happened to my big one in 2010 Therefore Cordyline australis trunks can take -9C for short periods, but could be killed by a several day freeze of less. Exposure to freezing wind will speed up a trunk killing freeze, however it is likely that even if the top is killed, it will resprout multiple trunks from below ground.
Trunked Cordyline australis are limited by the sap layer being just below the bark. If the sap layer freezes all the way round (not the trunk all the way through) the trunk dies. This is what happened to my big one in 2010 Therefore Cordyline australis trunks can take -9C for short periods, but could be killed by a several day freeze of less. Exposure to freezing wind will speed up a trunk killing freeze, however it is likely that even if the top is killed, it will resprout multiple trunks from below ground.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
I had some 15 year old plants that I grew from being in 9cm pots to 12 ft trunked plants. I never protected them and they always grew outside. 2010 winter killed my cordylines, people are still worried about leaving them unprotected. People don't know what they have until they have gone, loads of gardens are missing there Cordylines and I would always protect them now.
- Dave Brown
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19742
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
- Contact:
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
How would you contemplate protecting a 20ft tall 30 head Cordyline ? My ladder wouldn't reach the top, and when up in the tree it swayed about a lot, as is not wood.fern Rob wrote:2010 winter killed my cordylines, people are still worried about leaving them unprotected. People don't know what they have until they have gone, loads of gardens are missing there Cordylines and I would always protect them now.
Pic from 2009
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
No idea. You would need scaffolding for that and plenty of fleece.
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
Thanks for all the replies everyone. Yes dave i posted on your latest youtube video my realisation that your cordyline was missing. Now that would be quite a job protecting that wonderful specimen.
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
I wrapped the tops of mine last winter but the -10c still killed the growth points. I just wish we could go back to winters where we struggled to get down to -5c.
Most wanted list - Any Young Trachycarpus and/or fern.
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
Yes unfortunately i have not been growing plants back when we had milder winters so i can only dream what it was like
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
-8C killed all my Cordylines down to ground level. I think the main problem was 2 weeks below freezing. I even managed to kill a waggie that year.
Re: Cordyline Australis hardiness rating??
Sounds like it was a bad winter for you then. Im not too disheartened by the information I've been given, after all most the large cordylines in the area have rebounded after being cut to the ground.