Wintering Succulents in the UK
The Independent thinks it’s important enough for you to bring your succulents inside for the winter, they’ve made a feature out of it.
My grandma sounded very pleased on the phone earlier; she’d just persuaded my uncle to come round and collect her plants. Not all of them. Just the precious collection of succulent plants that sit in pots on her balcony – they are off to spend the cold spell in his greenhouse…. in the non-deserts of mid-Oxfordshire.
We have less of a frost problem in mid-west London, but the principle is still the same. My uncle takes away my grandma’s plants and bubble-wraps them for the winter; I run out and cover mine with newspaper when zero centigrade threatens.
That’s not so cold. There are plenty of succulents that can handle zero centigrade, and much lower too. The key is to keep them dry. So just leave them on the balcony as long as there is a balcony directly above yours for cover, or add a stylish umbrella. But if it starts getting colder, and you get a hard freeze, then maybe you should bring them inside. Especially if you have an uncle with a greenhouse.
