Well, that it what the books say, apparently.

We have had one for decades in a big pot sitting outside all year in rain,
sleet, snow and frost.

Still going strong.

I have a cactus which has been treated the same and is still alive,
although it needs some TLC now, I think.
For years it used to flower each year.

Bottom line, plants are often hardier than the books and web sites suggest.

Cheers

Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

On 04/05/2023 18:38, David wrote:
> Well, that it what the books say, apparently.
>
> We have had one for decades in a big pot sitting outside all year in rain,
> sleet, snow and frost.
>
> Still going strong.
>
> I have a cactus which has been treated the same and is still alive,
> although it needs some TLC now, I think.
> For years it used to flower each year.
>
> Bottom line, plants are often hardier than the books and web sites suggest.

The first rule I apply is "plants can't read". They don't know where
they are supposed to grow through many years of received wisdom in
gardening books!

Having said that, it helps to know the conditions under which plants
grow in the wild. Many cacti are very hardy if they are kept dry. Some
can apparently withstand very low temperatures as they grow in the
Canadian prairies, but they can only survive as they are covered in
several feet of snow which acts as an insulating blanket.

I've heard that aloe vera is pretty hardy, although I'm a bit surprised
considering that its native habitat is the Arabian peninsula. Perhaps it
has been introduced to colder regions and your plant came from those areas.

--

Jeff

On 04/05/2023 20:10, Jeff Layman wrote:

/snip/

> I've heard that aloe vera is pretty hardy, although I'm a bit surprised
> considering that its native habitat is the Arabian peninsula. Perhaps it
> has been introduced to colder regions and your plant came from those areas.

It gets rearkably cold in the 'desert' at night, especially in the
winter and when there is no cloud-cover.

This suggests the question: how hardy are date palms? (I shall be
finding out if I live long enough - I have lots of aijwa date seedlings,
many over a year old, and am wonder4ing if and vwhen to plant some out.

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On 04/05/2023 20:10, Jeff Layman wrote:
> On 04/05/2023 18:38, David wrote:
>> Well, that it what the books say, apparently.
>>
>> We have had one for decades in a big pot sitting outside all year in
>> rain,
>> sleet, snow and frost.
>>
>> Still going strong.
>>
>> I have a cactus which has been treated the same and is still alive,
>> although it needs some TLC now, I think.
>> For years it used to flower each year.
>>
>> Bottom line, plants are often hardier than the books and web sites
>> suggest.
>
> The first rule I apply is "plants can't read". They don't know where
> they are supposed to grow through many years of received wisdom in
> gardening books!
>
> Having said that, it helps to know the conditions under which plants
> grow in the wild. Many cacti are very hardy if they are kept dry. Some
> can apparently withstand very low temperatures as they grow in the
> Canadian prairies, but they can only survive as they are covered in
> several feet of snow which acts as an insulating blanket.
>
> I've heard that aloe vera is pretty hardy, although I'm a bit surprised
> considering that its native habitat is the Arabian peninsula. Perhaps it
> has been introduced to colder regions and your plant came from those areas.
>
I met someone who was growing it commercially in Andalusia, many years ago

--
“Some people like to travel by train because it combines the slowness of
a car with the cramped public exposure of 
an airplane.”

Dennis Miller

On 04/05/2023 21:53, RustyHinge wrote:
> On 04/05/2023 20:10, Jeff Layman wrote:
>
> /snip/
>
>> I've heard that aloe vera is pretty hardy, although I'm a bit
>> surprised considering that its native habitat is the Arabian
>> peninsula. Perhaps it has been introduced to colder regions and your
>> plant came from those areas.
>
> It gets rearkably cold in the 'desert' at night, especially in the
> winter and when there is no cloud-cover.
>
> This suggests the question: how hardy are date palms? (I shall be
> finding out if I live long enough - I have lots of aijwa date seedlings,
> many over a year old, and am wonder4ing if and vwhen to plant some out.
>

The problem with date palms is that yes they can cope with short
overnight spells of sub zero but they then expect the day temperatures
to rapidly climb back, also unless looked after by man most seedlings do
die before being able to reach a decent size (unlike the Sycamores here!!)
--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

RustyHinge <rusty.hinge@foobar.girolle.co.uk> wrote:
> On 04/05/2023 20:10, Jeff Layman wrote:
>
> /snip/
>
> > I've heard that aloe vera is pretty hardy, although I'm a bit surprised
> > considering that its native habitat is the Arabian peninsula. Perhaps it
> > has been introduced to colder regions and your plant came from those areas.
>
> It gets rearkably cold in the 'desert' at night, especially in the
> winter and when there is no cloud-cover.
>
Absolutely! We lived in Riyadh for three years back in the 1970s (1974
to 1977) and there was certainly frost one year while we were there.
It was a year when there had been some rain and puddles were frozen.

--
Chris Green
·