Issue 29Check the Plant Label Before You Buy

Before you go on a plant-buying frenzy in your local nursery or garden centre at the first sign of Scotland’ spring sun, take a moment to understand a little about the hardiness of plants. If you better understand plant labels, you’ll know how best to make sure the plants in your garden survive the seasons.
HardyThis means the plant can withstand temperatures to around -15°C or lower. Most perennials like Paeonia, Brunnera macrophylla, Lupinus, Astrantia major, hosta, and hardy geraniums will be hardy as they naturally die back in the winter and grow afresh come the warmer spring temperatures. Shrubs like Hydrangea macrophylla, Cotoneaster horizontalis, Viburnum tinus, and Cornus alba are generally tough and hardy additions to the garden.
Frost HardyThis means the plant can survive a covering of frost down to about -5°C to -10°C but will need protection if lower temperatures are predicted. Penstemon, Agapanthus africanus, and Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia) would generally fall into this category but planting frost hardy plants against a wall, fence, or hedge can offer an added level of protection. You may have to fleece these plants in the wintertime if temperatures are predicted to drop lower.
Half-HardyThis means the plant can take just a touch a frost, lower temperatures will kill it off. Annual bedding plants like Cosmos bipinnatus, Salvia, Petunia, and snapdragons (Antirrhinum) are usually treated as half-hardy plants as we are always advised not to plant them out in the garden until the risk of frost has passed. Pelargoniums are classed as half-hardy too and need to be taken indoors to a porch or windowsill to be overwintered.
TenderThis means the plant cannot survive temperatures lower than 5°C. These types of plants like Banana (Musa basjoo), Canna indica, and Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) need to be moved indoors or to a heated greenhouse before winter temperatures really hit. Often the easiest way to grow tender plants like exotics, which will not survive a Scottish winter, is in pots so that they can easily be moved to protect them.
Learning which plants in your garden need to be protected or moved before winter chills will save you money in the long run so you do not keep losing these gorgeous plants every winter.
It will also save you time as not everything needs protected: many perennial plants are full hardy in a Scottish winter and can simply be left to die back and do their thing in order to survive the colder temperatures and then rise again majestically from the soil come springtime.
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