plants that will survive winter?

[sammyand jon]

Hi we live in Antequera and winters can sometimes be chilly so can anyone recommend a plant that will survive or some kind of nice trailing plant that can grow over a terrace to give shade in the Summer maybe with nice flowers or something that wont die in the winter.We have lived in spain for some years now in Valencia but not sure what will survive the different winter climates here. Any suggestions. Sam and jon

[princess peach]

bourganvilla is a good one,mine is just flowering again,lovely bright purples and pinks.
The only trouble is one gust of wind and all the beautiful petals are all over the drive

[geegee]

Hi Sam and Jon, I live not far from Antequera and find Bouganvilla stuggles up here, although one of my neighbours has a well established plant that does well, frost can kill the young plants. It does depend on your particular microclimate, we are higher than most. You could try jasmine, it seems to be able to withstand the cold more. Soria garden centre on the cordoba road seems to have the best/healthiest looking stock of all the viveros around Antequera so maybe go have a browse, but not sure what is available at this time of year...

[anis]

I often copy the town hall gardeners - they seem very knowledgeable. I grow what they grow !
Lantana is native and very cheap and the purple trailing variety is very pretty, no much good for a terrace though.
You can buy the shrub in several colours and they are drought and frost resistant. The original is called Spanish flag - red and yellow. You can have shrub bushy types or climbers or trailers. If you clip them like privet hedges, they will flower constantly through the year. They don't smell very nice when you clip them though. Oleander has similar properties and is very hardy, again, it is a native plant.
If you go for a native plant, you have more chance of it surviving winter or summer stresses. Believe me, I have learned the hard way, to my cost.

[keddyboy]

How about cacti, or geraniums. Our geraniums grow all year round. Passion flowers are vigarous growers in an array of colours. Mine flower all year.

[geegee]

How true Anis, excellent advice to check what is grown locally by your own town as even if you source native plants, those that thrive on the coast won't necessarily thrive up here. I do enjoy the seville orange (naranja amarga) trees in Antequera and other local towns around here, they are tough survivors, providing winter colour and looking lovely in big pots on your terrace . We also grow minature olive trees, potted lemons, huge pots of lavender (still flowering), thyme, rosmary etc., all adapted to the extremes here.

Passionflower is a great recommendation for all-year trailing colour. Shame my OH hates them (too vulgar, apparently!) Some varieties seem to flower better in winter than they do in summer and some varieties are more frost-tender than others, so choose a cultivar carefully. They also spread like wildfire so need cutting back regularly to prevent them taking over your entire terrace!

The trick to successful gardening here aside from planting native species seems to be ensuring the plant roots are in shade and mulched deeply to conserve water in summer and that some summer shade is available for the main plants themselves - close planting, massing pots together, pergolas and other shade structures all help. To survive the winter, structures that provide shade in summer can also act as windbreaks and pots need to be well drained to avoid waterlogging in wet weather. Some plants that are theoretically evergreen turn deciduous if it gets too cold (we love and grow plumbago but we do lose it in the winter).

Sometimes what works and what doesn't for your particular orientation, height etc., is a matter of trial and error - good luck!

[Jool]

Ficus can be made to grow to any shape, also siempre verde.......and that acts as a good protection from cold winds etc....

Anyone know the spanish name for Passion Flower?

[santamaria]

We haven't been in Spain long so our knowlege isn't great with regards to best plants. We live near the town of Orce, (province of Granada) at about 900 metres above sea level for our first winter the temperatures regularly went below sub-zero. However come the Spring, in our garden and our hamlet, roses of all colours came into bloom offering the most amazing show. So this year we have planted out a few more rose bushes as they seem to be able to cope well with extremes of heat and cold.

[princess peach]

what on earth does your hubby find vulgar about these?







these are two types i have in my garden,i have another two different types,but im still waiting for them to flower.

The big red one at the top of page absolutley stinks,very strong smell,it also has huge leaves which are bigger than the flowers.It has flowered all summer and still continues to flower this time of the year.The buds are as big as kiwi fruits.its a beauty.

[karandjon]

Anyone know the spanish name for Passion Flower?

Yes, its called Pasiflora.

Karen

[alisonb]

If you want something to shade a terrace in summer, wisteria is as tough as old boots, and drops its leaves in winter, so you still get a bit of sun through. And it will survive freezing temperatures with no problem. It seems to flower much beter here than in UK, often having 3 lots of flowers each year.