I think that this will depend on which part of Japan the plants come from. I understand that not all of Japan has a dry winter. Peter (UK) On 6 June 2014 17:35, Rodger Whitlock <totototo@telus.net> wrote: > : Japanese plants fail in my garden because > (I believe) the annual pattern of rainfall is exactly opposite from that in > Japan. We have dry summers and wet winters, the winter wet aggravated by > poor > subsurface drainage in my garden. Japan has wet summers and dry winters. > If a > Japanese native doesn't desiccate to nothingness in summer, it rots away > during > the winter. >