My gauras have been great this year and still flowering. I have one in a large pot, will it overwinter in this and should it go into the cold GH? More in the flower bed - dig up or leave in?
They are not reiliably frost hardy so cuttings and/or shleter needed to see them thru a UK winter. They don't like winter wet either.
Having said that, I left mine out in the ground last year and we had one of the wettest and coldest (-8C lows for a couple of days) winters and they survived but they are in a very well drained bed. Slow to get going too so I thought I may have lost them but all was well in the end.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
I have a couple of Gaura in the ground, my tip is to leave all the top growth on over winter, and cut them back in late Spring. Mine survived the Beast from the East, but l think it's just a question of luck. Regarding the ones in pots, l'd tuck them up against the house wall, on pot feet, and if it gets really bad, move them to the greenhouse - but that's just me
Do you know @Lyn l never considered growing Gaura from seed. Something to try next year. I have come across one called Summer Breeze that l might try. Are they fairly easy ?
They’re very easy, just like any other seeds, around mid March, indoors until they are ready to prick out, don’t be in a hurry to prick out though. Get them to a good size so there’s no damage.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I bought a few different varieties of gaura this year. There was a particularly nice one with red leaves and dark pink flowers. I'm leaving them in in the hopes that as all the utility pipes run under them,they will maybe keep the roots above freezing.
In theory, gaura is hardy down to -10C but it won't like winter wet so, unless your bed is very well drained I would advise lifting it, potting it up and keeping it sheltered. You could also try taking cuttings tho it is a bit late in the year for that.
When I lived in Belgium I couldn't grow them at all as it was too wet and cold. Friends of mine treated them as annuas to be replaced each year. Now we've moved here I left my 3 new plants in the ground over winter and they have come back from frosts down to -8C last winter but they are in a very sunny, well-drained bed.
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In the sticks near Peterborough
Having said that, I left mine out in the ground last year and we had one of the wettest and coldest (-8C lows for a couple of days) winters and they survived but they are in a very well drained bed. Slow to get going too so I thought I may have lost them but all was well in the end.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
I'm leaving them in in the hopes that as all the utility pipes run under them,they will maybe keep the roots above freezing.
When I lived in Belgium I couldn't grow them at all as it was too wet and cold. Friends of mine treated them as annuas to be replaced each year. Now we've moved here I left my 3 new plants in the ground over winter and they have come back from frosts down to -8C last winter but they are in a very sunny, well-drained bed.
Here is some cultivation info from the RHS -
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/63441/i-Gaura-lindheimeri-i-Whirling-Butterflies/Details
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw