| I live on the Peninsula. My neighbor told me that because of frost I should cover some of the plants I bought this summer -- a bougainvillea, a hibiscus, an Alice du Pont mandevilla, a banana, plus a few other plants that go with a tropical look. I often see these plants when I drive around here. If we get a frost, is it that big of a deal? I don't have much extra time for gardening, so how can I keep this easy? It depends on the type of plants you have, the location of the plants in your yard, where you live in the Bay Area and how cold the thermometer dips in that particular year. These variables account for why you see some tropical plants growing here happily, and why you don't see more. The Bay Area has lots of microclimates, and some areas get much colder than others. For instance, the hills above Saratoga are in Zone 7 (as designated by Sunset magazine's Western Garden Book), the same zone as Oregon's Rogue River, where winter temperatures dip down between 23 and 9 degrees. Forgo bananas in the hills. But San Francisco, in Sunset Zone 17, is a surprisingly mild microclimate known for its kindness to tropical species, that is, until we get the occasional nose-freezing winter. Most of the Peninsula is between these zones and often gets winter frosts. For tropical plants like your Alice du Pont mandevilla, a lush vine with gorgeous flowers, that can be a big deal. A prolonged frost can kill it. Which brings us to your next question: ``How can I keep this easy?'' The easiest way: Select tougher, frost-hardy plants. Before you buy, scrutinize a plant's information label, or do some research. What you are looking for is a plant's lowest tolerable temperature before it croaks. Take your mandevilla. Usually, some
... read the whole article |