UK Jungle Garden & 'Tropical' Plants After Early Winter Freezes

[@MattiasTiivel]

Your gardens still looking great after the freezes! It has also dropped to around -5 here in Estonia for a night, and even the Potted Sago palms are still looking great! They were covered in around 10cm of snow, but now it has risen back up to around 10c! Hope your weather conditions improve!

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thank you very much and it's interesting to hear you've had very similar temperatures - great news about your Sagos! Sometimes the snow can help with insulating and protection provided it isn't as wet and mushy as it soon went here. Back to mild temperatures now with a few nights just below freezing so all good in the scheme of things thanks! I hope your garden copes well with the winter.

[@richardjohnson7984]

Your t shirt! I could just see a xxxx then I realised it was a cactus! 😆Sorry George I must have it on the brain! Thanks another great vid :-)

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Haha nope, definitely a cactus! Cheers Richard, I'm pleased you enjoyed the vid!

[@Islandgirl4ever2]

Hiya George... Same here in France, first snow, and so early.. 10 cm at that.. Today, though, it's 17C! I even took the covers off the bananas and opened the greenhouse door for the Pheonix.. What a big contrast in temps.. Thanks for your lovely tour.. Always inspirational.. Cheers, Leesa in France

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi Leesa and thank you. Yes, it sounds like you've had very similar temperatures and fluctuations to us here, quite unusual but every year seems to be different doesn't it. You did right getting things ventilated while you could. I hope the snow didn't cause much damage!

[@shineamenmbs3107]

George, thank you for sharing these happy and sad sides of your Jungle Garden adventures. Mother Nature is hard to challenge at times, even if you are wise, positive and courageous as you are. Time to move to Ivory Coast, Gold Coast (Africa), or Cebu Island... (Just kidding, i do know you like to feel the different seasons along the year). Thanks again, all the best George!❄🙋‍♂ By the way, i was happy to see that the Dragonfly and the Philodendron leave are safe...

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Haha yes, well spotted Bernard, the metal plants and animals definitely tend to be the toughest! It's all part of the adventure isn't it although I'm sure I could substitute some of your kind words with 'experimental' at best, 'foolish' at worst! You're quite right, I do enjoy the seasons, it's a big part of life for me - even if it does occasionally bring other activities and hopes to an end now and again. In the scheme of things though, all is good here bar a bit of leaf browning so I can't complain. All the best to you too, thanks again!

[@Erik-so2pm]

Lovely video. Our beautiful Tetrapanax is now full of flower buds. But also this year, summer is too short to produce flowers (Netherlands).

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thanks Erik! Ahh it's always stunning when they're in flowers but unfortunately they tend to get cut short in most places and winters here too. I'm sure one year soon we'll have a combination of a warmer summer and no frosts until well into December though...

[@bdbevo]

Great video George and it highlights the reality that 'Winter is Coming' whether we like it or not. This will motivate me to take care of everything I've been putting off for winter prep. Here the lowest temp so far was just under 4° C last night but tonight it'll be a low of 16°... It can lull you into a false sense of security.. Cheers from Texas! ~Bill

[@stevebacon1026]

Hi george. Good vid . The wind is blowing so hard at moment. Not harming to much. Im sure we will get the freezing weather soon, well - it is that time of year! Take care mate . Steve.🌴👍

[@Tminus89]

We had some milder frost here in NL, 1 night of -2c with some snow. It all was gone by the evening due to rain. My Tetrapanax still has green leaves, took the first hit well

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Nice one, you definitely dodged the colder temperatures again! You're doing well if the Tetrapanax is still green!

[@AlexP1-y4g]

Great video, down here on the Isle of Wight the wind has torn my bananas to shreds. In comparison its been quite warm down here. Its dropped down to 2 degrees C Friday night. My Agaves and Palms still going good.

[@YorkshireKRIS]

I've not been in my garden yet after the cold week but expecting it'll look pretty similar to yours. Thankfully it's very mild today

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hopefully everything comes through ok for you Kris and you manage to get a good look around in the daylight. Yes, it’s certainly a big temperature jump but at least enough to keep a real sustained freeze at bay luckily.

[@TomRamsayMusic]

Did you protect your Butyagrus palm? I just left mine to it and it seems to be fine up here in Scotland, for now 🤣

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi Tom, I didn't, no. I was honestly on the fence about it and had I had a bit more time I would have been tempted to build a fleece structure round it BUT it's now been in the ground for 18 months+ so should have a relatively established rootball and these temperatures shouldn't cause any great issues. In some respects, I'd rather leave it to it until there's temperatures below -5 or real sustained cold forecast now. Obviously palms can take a while to display any damage but it looked OK when I checked at the weekend so fingers crossed for us both!

[@murph-r7v]

Hi George, when wrapping up musa basjoo I have seen some videos which say cover fleece with a plastic cover/ sheet. Is this something you would recommend? It obviously keeps them dry and protects from frost more than just fleece, but is it best to let them breathe more?

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi, there’s plenty of different ways to wrap them and I do try to make a point of saying in my vids that my ways aren’t necessarily the only or indeed ‘right’ way! A plastic cover over the top of protection works well if you’ve made an enclosure out of chicken wire / fleece and packed it full of straw as straw and fleece provide the best insulation when dry. You may even be able to fully cover the protection with plastic provided there’s a good layer of straw / fleece under there and it isn’t directly touching the plant underneath. Ideally I’d say leave a bit of the covering to be breathable but bananas are a lot more tolerant of being wrapped than palms etc. Personally I’ve found a couple of layers of fleece bags to keep the rain out relatively well and they also dry out quickly.

[@parttimeninja5521]

My Farfugium completely died back above ground last winter, but it came back in spring with a vengeance 🍀

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Nice one, thanks for letting me know! Pleased to hear it came back, I appreciate the reassurance!

[@cynthiastogden7000]

Very windy and wet in Cornwall but I have a flower bud on my small Braeburn apple tree! Not a good sign I think. A little freezing one night but it is still there.

[@mawkernewek]

I'm in Cornwall too, I've seen apples, hawthorn and pears flower in autumn a few times in recent years, don't think I really have this year though. I think it happens when there is a period of dry weather followed by rain, so that a dormant period is induced and then a new flush of leaves and sometimes flowers once rain returns.

[@johnvenables1763]

Hi George. Do you unwrap your tree ferns while temperatures are high enough? It’s my first year with mine and I’ve left the crowns protected but unwrapped the top foot which is wrapped. I’m in Notts so similar region to you. Thanks

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi John, yes, exactly that. I mostly leave the crowns wrapped then add and take away any further wrapping in accordance with the temperatures.

[@johnvenables1763]

@ thanks George 👍🏻🤞🏻

[@Islandgirl4ever2]

P.S. I have a specific question just to have your knowledgeable opinion.. Do you think it would be ok to keep a tetrapanax growing in a big enough pot and keep it there so as not to eventually have runners? I have a lot of grass that I don't want to dig up if it runs, and I have a nasty neighbour on one side.. so don't want it to run to her side.. Thanks..

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Hi Leesa, I don't know about knowledgeable but I have a go and the longer you keep doing that the more you pick up - as for your question, yes I'd absolutely do that. You'll maybe hear that they're not an ideal plant for pot culture as it does affect their growth and you'll need to be diligent with the watering but you can absolutely grow them and still get large leaves in a good sized pot. If you really want to grow them then that's 100 times better than risking messing up your lawn or creating an issue with an already problematic neighbour...

[@DJSupaflyguy]

🫡👌👌👌👌

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Thanks 😃

[@Knapper94]

Arid tour or we riot! :)

[@GeorgesJungleGarden]

Haha I'm trying my best, I might have a scrappy tour of it next month if I can get things tidied up in time. It hasn't changed much but the plants seem to have grown well!

[@39chevy44]

Hi George, looks like you r frosts were more severe than mine as only got down to -2 on Mersea , but the windy weather has done some damage, but everything is still green, T rex is starting to flower hopefully it will flourish before the next frosts?. Cheers Paul.