St Johnswort, Kudzu in Zone 2 Alberta
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Cindy Chomistl
Posted on: January 18, 1999

I have a few questions regarding a few seeds I am interested in. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and my main questions have to do with the zone I’m in.

1) St. Johnswort is said to be easy to germinate. Should I treat this as an outdoor perennial or take it in for the winter?

St. Johnswort is hardy in zones 4 to 8 and has to be wintered indoors in your zone 2 growing area.

2) Kudzu - obviously a Southern Alberta vine but what chances do I have of it doing anything out here?

The plant will not overwinter out of doors in your zone. It is hardy in zones 7 to 10 and will grow in any well-drained soil with a pH of 5 to 7. It likes sun. Since it will grow 5 to 20 meters in one season, You could have a very vigorous pot plant. Plant it in a large deep pot and take it indoors well before the first frost, because the lightest frost kills it down to ground level. You can lengthen its season indoors and thus get a crop of roots even though outside treated as an annual it would not amount to much since it starts into growth quite late.

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