Nemesia Advice Please

hk-fowler

Hello! I am a complete novice and bought two gorgeous nemesia plants for my garden. On the label it says perennial but I've since looked up that nemesias won't overwinter without protection. I've read that you can do this by laying a cover of mulch in autumn to protect them from frosts etc but how do I do this?? Do I literally just cover the whole thing with mulch once it has finished flowering? (I'm guessing you cut them to ground level first!? ) can't really bring them indoors as have nowhere to keep them. Has anyone tried this? Any help would be great, thanks!! 😀

deltaflyer235

I love Nemesia and it has the most amazing scent. I didn't actually do anything special with mine last winter but they are all in quite sheltered spots and they all came back with a vengeance this year. I gave them a good haircut when they started growing back in the spring but they can be cut right back once the leaves start dying off at the end of the season. I actually hadn't realised that they are tender perennials so hadn't expected them to come back. 

Posy

Mine don't survive winter outdoors but they do seed themselves and young plants appear in late spring.

AnniD

I have found that the white varieties seem to survive winter more successfully than the more colourful ones such as "Rhubarb and custard". I have one plant that has survived the last 2 winters, it's in a very well drained position and hasn't got too wet.
I would have thought covering them in mulch would cause them to rot, but others may have different experiences! 
You can take softwood cuttings if you want to try and propagate them,  you could try keeping the cuttings in small pots on a well lit windowsill perhaps. 

Red maple

I have mine in pots and they come back every year. They self seed, too, so I have them popping up in unexpected places. I don't do anything special to protect them, but they are fairly well protected, I suppose - one is in a planter which sits against the house wall and the other is a little further out but the garden is surrounded by protective hedging on two sides and fence on the other which I think creates a bit of a micro climate, (though I'm no expert). They are lovely - the scent is gorgeous, isn't it?