Many gardeners are reporting plant losses due to cold weather, including evergreen plants such as hebes and pittosporums. Have you been affected? <\/p>

From Solway Firth in Scotland to the Peak District and West Wales, and from the edge of Dartmoor in Devon to Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and Surrey, gardeners have been reporting unusual plant losses in their gardens over the 2022\/23 winter. Evergreen shrubs have been most likely to succumb, with hebes and pittosporums being particularly badly affected. Hebes<\/a> have been blackened, and pittosporums have lost their leaves.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Getty Images<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
@katesq24 told us: \u201cIt hurts to list them: Hebes, pittosporums, grey leaved cistus (green ones ok), phormiums, parts of rosemary, astelia, Ugni<\/em>, Euphorbia palustris<\/em>, ceanothus, Hoheria<\/em>. Gardening on sand but in an exposed part of Oxfordshire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perennials such as penstemon<\/a>, Oenethera lindheimeri<\/em> (gaura), Erigeron karvinskianus<\/em> and salvias<\/a>, which can often be relied on to make it through the winter in milder areas, also appear to have died. Brassicas such as cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli have also succumbed to the cold.<\/p>\n
@oxleaze_garden commented on Instagram<\/a>: \u201cHebes all dead, sisyrinchium, Euphorbia mellifera<\/em> and Euphorbia wulfenii<\/em>, penstemons perished too. Not sure yet about Salvia<\/em> \u2018Amistad\u2019 and Salvia involucrata<\/em> yet as they usually survive outside but maybe not this year\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of these plants come under the RHS ratings of H3 or H4. H3 plants are classed as \u2018borderline hardy\u2019 \u2013 hardy in coastal, mild or sheltered areas except in hard winters and at risk from sudden (early) frosts. H4 plants are considered hardy in an average winter throughout most of the UK, except at altitude or in central or northerly locations. However many gardeners now expect these plants to come through winter unscathed.<\/p>\n
Read more about plant hardiness ratings<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Pittosporum. Lavender. Thyme. Rosemary. Cistus. Cordyline. No surprise really. The prolonged frosty and frozen period was asking a lot from plants that would always be on the borderline hardy list.<\/p>\u2014 knives out (@nickyknivesout) March 7, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>