Overwintering succulents outdoors and under cover

How to do it

1. 1Separate the two dangers first: cold and wet. Most half-hardy succulents survive far colder than the label suggests if they are dry, and rot at 5°C if they are not.
2. 2Leave the genuinely hardy kinds out — Sempervivum, Delosperma, creeping Sedum, Saxifraga — but lift pots off the ground onto feet or a brick so water runs away instead of standing.
3. 3Give the borderline ones a rain shelter rather than heat: an open cold frame, a porch, the lee of a wall, a sheet of glass propped above them. Air movement matters more than warmth.
4. 4Bring the tender kinds in before the first frost, into the coolest bright room you have rather than a warm one. A heated living room in January produces a pale, stretched plant by March.
5. 5Stop watering almost entirely from November to February for the summer-growers, and water the winter-growers sparingly but never let them shrivel.
6. 6Harden them back off slowly in April: a plant that wintered indoors will scorch and bleach in a week of unfiltered spring sun. Two weeks of increasing exposure, starting in shade.

Plants that use it

Their calendar has a job that points to this guide.