In article ,
Spider wrote:

I've just popped out to the Nursery and this climber is growing on
pillars along the path. The scent is astonishing! It always amazes and
delights me that such wonderful smells come from such little flowers!

I have often admired this climber, but have read conflicting advice that
it is "tender, requiring shelter" and "hardy, H7. Surely, they can't
both be right? Has yours ever seen a really hard winter, Sacha?

Well, I grow the ordinary one. It is fully hardy here, and
would regrow from the ground if cut back, though I don't know how
it would handle the ground freezing more than an inch or so down
(because I have it in a protected spot, for my garden). But it
flowers very early, and I have seen the flowers frosted.

Thanks, Nick. That's useful to know. I quite like the ordinary one, as
it happens, and it fits in with my colour scheming. Now that there's a
chance I could grow it, I'll do more research. The frosted flowers
sound a bit worrying :~/. I may be able to rig up some kind of
protection in one of my more sheltered corners. Good to know that it
may come back from the crown if damaged.

I wouldn't worry too much - it flowers most years in Cambridge.
Not well, but it never gets direct sun.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.