Winter Protection

      So I have mentioned methods of winter protection before in the past but im going to briefly explain how I do this again for my plants that are not 100% hardy in my climate.

      Desert plants(Hardy Cacti and Agave) In my desert garden I cover my plants with old glass window panes, cold frames, or whatever I can find I am all for being creative and resourceful. I even use Bamboo from my bamboo grove to create a frame that I put clear window plastic over to help protect some of the cacti. Cacti and Agave hate wet weather many can take the cold but cannot do wet cold they tend to rot. So in the middle of October here in USDA zone 6b I cover up my desert bed to let the bed dry out and to keep the rain off before the cold sets in. I cover everything in 4ml window plastic to keep out the wetness.

     Hardy Palms With my hardy palms Chinese Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), Sabal minor, and Needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) I use this method. I use a large tomato cage put over the palm wrap the tomato cage in several layers of bubble wrap then stuff with dry leaves and or straw. Then I put a plastic heavy duty trash bag over the top of this and then use twine and tie tightly around the tomato cage to keep the plastic on. You will probably have to use duck tape or heavy duty packing tape to keep the bubble wrap from flying off if it gets windy, they can unravel. After established(after 2 years) the palms may survive without protection depends on your climate and moisture and the species of palm. Needle palms and Sabal minors are very hardy and more tolerant of moisture than other palms. Many palms can rot during wet cold weather. There is a group of Windmill palms in Bulgaria that have survived for many years unprotected in very cold temperatures, but these may be more cold hardy than many other strains of Windmill palms. It's all an experiment really.

Here are some photos of my winter protection from this winter.

                     

Agave Winter Protection

I decided to start protecting my Agave Parryi and my Agave Harvardia plants 3 weeks ago by putting some old glass window panes over some posts and concrete blocks and other junk I found lying around to protect them. I put clear 4 mil clear window plastic over the windows and covered some of the sides with it to keep the moisture out. I left some areas open on the sides to help circulate the air. It is best to cover Agave's early I am told because this way the soil/sand around them can dry out, as they tend to rot when they are both cold and wet, its not the cold that gets them its the moisture. The dirt they are planted in is mostly corse sand and small rocks with some potting mix mixed in. It seems to drain pretty fast so that should help also to prevent root rot. They have to be kept dry all winter long. We have very wet winters here in southern Illinois USDA zone 6b, so they would not survive the winter here without moisture protection.

UPDATE: Chinese Windmill Palm, Trachycarpus fortunei

So I uncovered my Trachy a few days ago and the winter this year was really mild, the coldest temp this winter was 14 F. My Trachy did very well this winter, it managed not to defoliate. I protected it again this year with a tomato cage wrapped in bubble wrap stuffed with straw, and a trash bag over the top of it to keep the moisture out. This method iv used for 2 years in a row. I am just so happy it didn't loose it's leaves. Hopefully this year it will really take off.