On 13/12/18 13:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

I have some nominally hardy Hedychiums, and need to decide how to
store them over winter. It would be easiest just to dig them into
the earth in the polytunnel and ignore them, but does it matter if
they dry out more-or-less completely?

I don't know. Could you perhaps give them a little water once every few
weeks or so?

I grow Hedychium densiflorum "Assam Orange" and it has always been happy
in the ground outside over winter. And that ground, at times, has been
very wet - even waterlogged. On the other hand, with the drought last
summer they must have got very dry for weeks on end. Maybe they are just
very tolerant of soil water content.

Thanks very much. Can you remind me how cold your garden gets (or
where it is)?

South Central Hampshire, so a /bit/ warmer than yours! But I also grew
them outside in the Sussex Weald several years ago, where there were
some nights down to -8 or even -10. Last year a couple of times we got
down to -6 deg C, but that was exceptional. Usually we get a few days
below zero, but I can't believe there is any deep frost penetration.
Mind you, it looks to me that their rhizomes are pretty much on the
surface, so the frost wouldn't need to penetrate deeply to affect them.

--

Jeff