In one 24 hour period, these Bluebells, which have escaped our garden and are now growing in Morris Park, bloomed and survived a freeze where the temperature dipped to 25 degrees, just for a few hours at most. Â We anticipated this event and discussed its outcome but did not know what built- in mechanism the plant had in its survival strategy.
Now we know a little bit more: the plant lowers itself to the ground, presumably to capture heat that has been getting stored in the soil and leaf litter, just enough to make it through a short term burst of cold in early Spring.
This Mertensia virginica plant can also weather periodic flooding as well!