I am tring to grow a bunch of tropical plants(most are native to Peru) in north carolina and was wondering if I could use a lot of mulch to protect the roots in hope it would go dormant each winter and return to normal growth in spring. I have had success with Angels trumpets like thisand am wondering if it would work with a tropical liana.
Garden & Landscape - 3 Answers
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1 :
All I can say is try it and see what happens. Heavy mulching is recommended for things like rose bushes in colder areas, so the root systems don't freeze and die. But, the problem with tropicals is that they expect good growing conditions year round, like they would experience in the tropics. I know something like a banana tree can easily be killed off completely during a cold snap, even in moderate climates like Southern California. Specifically what liana variety are you trying to grow? I've had success with clematis vines that would die off in the winter and sprout again in the spring (which actually surprised me - I thought I killed it).
2 :
I have lived in NC all my life. Now I live at the beach & it is impossible to keep tropical plants alive during the winter here. Winters here are nothing like the climates of Peru. You must bring tropical plants here if you want to keep them alive. Tonight the temperatures are in the 20's with wind chills in the teens. They just cannot survive outside in these temps. The only plant that has survived this cold winter are the hens & chicks. Since we have such mild falls here I keep my plants outside until about Thanksgiving. Then I bring them in until late March. Hope this helps to answer your questions. Good Luck!!
3 :
Charlotte here... and I built a greenhouse specifically to house my tropicals for the winter... no more room for them in the house!!!..... there's a few that make it here, but so few it's sad.... banana plants, the musa basjoo will make it... elephant ears make it if mulched... but everything else, from palms to dracaena to esperanza, bouganvillia, mandevilla, etc, all need protection from cold here.....the Montana clematis grows well here and survives winter nicely.... it would go up a tree where there was plenty of sunlight... http://www.malby.info/flowers/flowersbig/clematis_montana_rubens_170.jpg http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/32355.jpg but a vine that couldn't take the cold would have to resprout from the roots yearly and that's a lot of stress for a plant that would usually not face that struggle.....
