It seems most of them are hardy in the ground down in Arkansas. It freezes every winter and snows. The leaves freeze back but bulbs survive. -----Original Message----- From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lee Poulsen Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 7:33 PM To: PBS Society Subject: Re: [pbs] Hippeastrum cold hardiness Something to keep in mind about some of the Hippeastrum species (and in fact any plant species) from the Mata Atlântica of southeastern Brazil (in the areas surrounding São Paulo) is that they are naturally adapted to withstanding freezing temperatures a few degrees below 0°C. Mauro Peixoto, who lives and gardens in Mogi das Cruzes, has been measuring the temperature at his place (at about 2500 ft a.s.l.) for decades and up until global climate change started making inroads to the climate in his area, he regularly measured at least one night every winter where the temperature reached 0°C and occasionally a couple of degrees colder than that. One winter it reached -5°C. This killed a number of his orchids from more northerly climes in his shade house, which is not heated. But did absolutely nothing to anything, including orchids, from the general regions around where he lives. So there is already some built-in resistance to a few degrees of freezing in the Hippeastrum from that area. There are also some Hippeastrum species from further south into Uruguay and Argentina. These might naturally be able to withstand even more occasional freezing, depending on if those areas see even colder winter temperatures on occasion For the past 20 years Mauro has never seen it get colder than +4°C. And he lives quite a ways out in the countryside, so it’s not due to the heat island effect that growing cities produce. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m > On Feb 22, 2016, at 5:43 PM, Travis O <enoster@hotmail.com> wrote: > > > I've heard that Hippaestrum can be marginally hardy if planted deep in a South facing bed. Anyone ever try pushing the limits of Hippaestrum hardiness? Any species naturally hardy? > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/