David in Normandy wrote:
Are house leeks supposed to be hardy?

Some people grow them on roofs so I'd expect them to be hard as old
boots? I've got some in pots with fierce drainage (more gravel and sand
than anything else) but the Winter frosts seem to have killed them off.
They are all completely black, limp and shrivelled and look like they
have departed the Earth, shuffled off the mortal coil and gone to live
on a roof in heaven.

Should I have brought them indoors for Winter?


Hi David,

Here we grow them outside in big granite planters (wot the cows once
drank from). They've survived for over 15 years, and in the mean time
I stuff bits into old stone walls here and there. They don't seem
bothered with the cold, and IIRC its a tad colder here than at your
place.

Well, we've got scads of snowdrops, the daffs are up, witch-hazels out
full, and it's February. Please let there be a light at the end
of the tunnel showing dimly...

-E