Nhra_20 said: Thought about stealing some leaves people have in their yards or bagged up on the curb waiting for leaf pick up
My next door neighbors just bring their leaves to me.
And now they both use riding lawn mowers with baggers, so I don't need to mulch the leaves up myself anymore. My third next door neighbor uses all of his leaves himself.
My thoughts about the IRLS advice is the same as Lorn's. There is lot more environmental variations that work for or against winter hardiness than just temperature. It is very possible that Kushi Maya needs special handling in warmer Iowa than colder Minnesota. Kushi Maya remains in the ground outside in my gardens. I've always considered a consistently frozen ground through a colder winter to be an advantage. Who knows, when climate change makes my winters like Iowa's, maybe I will have to bring Kushi Maya in for the winter.
Heck, it might be January before I spread my leaf mulch over my beds this season. My species impatiens still haven't frozen yet (!), although they are quite a bedraggled mess.
The only thing I have to add to Lorn's excellent cultivation advice is about constant moisture: yes, they want it, but as long as your soil is airy enough to allow deep root growth (think of Lorn's pics of lily root systems), your soil need not look moist on top.
