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Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)
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Posted by pinkspoonbill 7 AR (My Page) on Wed, Mar 26, 08 at 15:54
| Has anyone tried this plant in zone 7 or 8 with a hot, humid summer? I am thinking of ordering a wintergreen, but all of the sites I've seen said it is difficult to produce its growing conditions, and that it does not adapt. It is not supposed to like hot summers. Some sites say it is hardy as hot as zone 8, others say 6 or 7. It is in the ericaceae family, and I have lots of azalias (also in that family), and probably have the acid soil it needs as well as shade. The three winters I have seen here, have not been below 10 F, so some years, I am a zone 8. I am probably not at the cooler, higher elevations that this plant grows at in AL, MS or GA, and have summer temps over 100 each summer, with many consecutive weeks over 90. Has anyone grown Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen ground cover) in these conditions? Has anyone tried, but not succeeded with this plant? I'd love to try this plant, but do not wish to do so if the odds are stacked way against it, as there are a few other items in the catalog I'd also like to order. If everyone in my climate who tried this plant was not successful, I'm better off trying something else, probably. Thank you for your input. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)
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| It is not a question of winter hardiness. It's a question of heat and humidity tolerance. If you are in an area where night time lows don't go much below seventy, you'll probably be wasting your time and money. Night time temps are THE issue that make gardening difficult in the south. Because our nights don't cool off (with the exception of upper south and higher elevatations, of course), plants never rest. They just keep growing and growing until they literally grow themselves to death. |
RE: Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen)
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I grew it for many years, under a White Pine, in acidic soil (red clay). The pine died after 40 years and the Gaultheria became exposed to afternoon sun. It slowly began to disappear and is now all gone, I think.
I believe that soil temperature has more effect on the plant than air temperature and humidity (dew point).
We often have soil tmperatures in the upper 70's and low 80's after a string of 100°+ days. Lots of plants wither and go dormant, when that happens.
In hindsight, I should have moved it, after having the tree removed, but I had Hepatica acutiloba and Asarum arifolium in that location and they are still doing fine.
In that location, I also lost Chimaphila maculata (Pipsissewa) and Chrysogonum virginianum (Green & Gold). Strangely, the Green & Gold had seeded into the neighbors lawn and is perfectly happy and vigorous (to his chagrin) in full afternoon sun! :>))
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