Growing Diviners Sage And Lion’s Tail In South Eastern North Carolina,
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Jay Smith
Posted on: July 13, 2010

I live in zone 8 according to your zone map should I put these plants in the ground or place them in pots and allow them to grow outside and bring them inside for the winter?

If I put the in the ground should I dig them up in the fall and pot them for winter and bring them inside?

Diviners’ sage is a tropical plant (Zone 11), while lion’s tail is only winter hardy to zone 9. In zone 8 both have to be brought indoors before the first frost. They will experience less shock on moving indoors if they have been grown in a pot, as that avoids root disturbance. To prevent the roots getting too hot in the summer sun, you could sink them into the ground pot and all.

If I must bring them inside when should I do this and when can they be put back outside?

Lion’s tail must come in before any hard frosts and diviners’ sage before even a light frost. They both cannot go back out until all danger of frost is past. When you first bring them indoors cutting them back might be a good idea to cut down on the transpiration rate in the warmer and drier indoor air. When they go back out put them into the shade first and only very gradually move them into full sun -to their summer location.

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