Wow look at that clump it must be quite the site when they bloom.

That's great that it survived. It would have been a terrible loss. Do you happen to know what temperatures Papilio can survive when planted in the ground?

Bill

Whoa. And that's all on a 20" board??

HI Pat,

Now that's impressive clump and they as healthy as ever,
even with having ice all over them. Good luck with the cold spell.

Warm Regards,
Fred

Just a note on the photo... the plant normally is hanging on a piece of nylon rope tied around a windmill palm. I just took it down to water it and inspect it.
Bill, that's a good question about hardiness. I grow a wide variety of sub-tropical plants outdoors, protecting them in various ways, or not... Since I have a fairly large number of H. papilio and we have ANOTHER winter storm coming, I'll put a pot of them out and see how they do.

I have found papilio and cibister crosses to be fairly hardy. They are able to take freezing weather without any problems. Of course the ground never freezes here in the Houston area.
Maida

Howdy Maida,
Good info on the cross. Yup ground doesn't freeze here (with very few exceptions) I wonder if exposure to "cold" temps effect the length of the scapes though?

In my opinion, nothing terrible will happen. If the plant is covered with ice after thawing is not damaged, then the frost was weak, not below -4 C. At -4 C below freezing tissue occurs in them crystallization of water. That's when the water crystals break
plant cells, and it is damaged. But this is only those plants that are tolerant to frost.

We are going to be in the low 20s in Spring (TX) tonight (I know that's below 0*C)...maybe -3*C? Most of my bulbs, including my epiphytic Papilio, are in the greenhouse. Odd to see icicles hanging off the outside when it was 60*F inside! Ice is hanging off everything here today.
K