The climate for gardening in Poland

Aaah, climate! I forgot about it. Yes, the Polish Pole of Cold is in Northern- Eastern Poland, next to Lithuania.

One day I wanted to talk about my propensity for exotic plants. Keeping them in the open air have always been my dream. But I can be so inconsistent. Silly of me but I can`t resist and regularly buy plants which must be carefully protected in winter and then I never have time to do it and they usually die in freezing temperatures which go down to -- 15C. I lost about two dozen plants in this way, including two palm trees advertised as frost resistant.

Only fig trees do well in winter - they lose upper twigs but the bottom ones survive and shoot new stems in spring.

It`s like a gambling game - who`s gonna win - me or winter? It is so fascinating. Does anybody understand me here? :):)

• 
  Palm trees
  
• 
  Fig tree with fruit
  

Gardening is cool. And yes, Poland seems so close to Lithuania, yet I believe that to south of Warszawa starts next climatic zone, much warmer )

Oops, dear staff, I understand you considered the above post as off topic in the Owning a countryside home thread, I don`t mind at all. But I wonder what else we could write in this new thread you created - it seems everything important has already been said. Isn`t it better to move it all to Random?

If it stays, I will feel forced to write silly things about climate zones in Poland, the revival of growing grapes in some parts of Poland, droughts etc. But that will make a few posts a month or even year. So it isn`t worth it, I suppose.

pawian, for me - everything will be interesting! )

Ok, let it be as you want but don`t complain later on that I didn`t warn you.


As you wish. :)


Polish climate zones - they are called frost resistance zones in Polish. Mine is this medium one - 6B, but dangerously close to 6A.

• 
  z12528221IHSTREFYM.jpg
  

Yes, the area around Zielona Góra and Wrocław is really starting to become interesting. A wine snob friend reckons that there are some wines worth trying, though there are still problems with consistency.

adoriavineyards.com/en/ - I've tried this stuff and it was very, very good.

I've tried craft beers brewed with Polish hops - not so positive. Must be the climate, or the soil maybe? Saar hops from Bohemia win every time (or British of course!)

I think it's not even that, but rather the Polish palate seems to prefer quite bitter beers. I'm also not impressed, especially when you consider the quality of even the cheapest supermarket beers in the Czech Republic or Germany compared to Polish beers.

The last wave of ground frost may come even in May so pro gardeners advise to plant vulnerable greens from mid May. Last year I picked very few cherries because spring frost had killed blooming flowers on trees.

This year I see mine have survived very well but in other regions - not. After the drought, ground frosts are going to negatively influence farmers` income.

finanse.wp.pl/majowe-przymrozki-zaszkodza-sadownikom-wzrosna-ceny-6378043336972417a


There are special names for those cold days with ground frost. Cold Gardeners are on 12, 13 and 14 May while 15 May is called Cold Sophie.

Today it has been raining all day, just like yesterday and a few days ago. Great, the ground is slowly getting soaked but still only the initial layer of it. To get deeper, the rain should continue for a few days more.

Rains are good for some veg and bad for others. E.g. tomatoes don`t like damp conditions, they can easily get diseases.

Climate in Poland is great for roses. I have inherited some bushes after the previous owners but am not crazy about that type of flowers. But once I desired to have black or blue roses in my garden. I was even about to order them when I read that such roses hadn`t been invented yet. Blue rose is in fact violet while black is dark crimson. Florists achieve pure blue or black by injecting special dyes into the stem.

The same with rainbow roses - they are artificially created. Growing them in your garden is pure fantasy so don`t let tricksters take you for a ride - e.h., smart guys sell rainbow rose seeds on auction sites.

• 
  Fake
  
• 
  Fake
  

Is it possible to grow peaches in Poland? I love them so much )))

Yes, very much so.
The INKA peach is one of the most popular in Poland.

Yes, but you`d better not rely on them too much. They are smaller, less juicy, not so sweet and tougher than their southern counterparts. I planted two trees but rather out of curiosity than taste.


That`s interesting, never heard of this variety. Harnaś (Highlander robbers leader) is more popular in my region.

rynek-rolny.pl/artykul/brzoskwinia-harnas-najpopularniejsza-i-najbardziej-dochodowa-odmiana.html

I am glad you agree with me for once.


Here knock yourself out.
bing.com/images/search?q=inka+peach+variety+of+poland&qpvt=INKA+peach+variety+of+Poland&FORM=IGRE

Thanks, I learnt sth new. But I also found out there is difference between Harnaś and Inka. Inka is more sensitive to freezing temperatures - minus 18, while Harnaś minus 23. That difference might be crucial in Polish climate.

Looking at the climate zone map, it's weird that the 6a zone includes the area south of Wrocław :)

Merged:

Are fig trees grown in Poland

Hi, Does anyone know if Fig trees are native to Poland?

They grow in Germany so i suppose they also grow in Poland.

They can if you can protect them from frost.

@jon357

I thik they are resistant to frost but dont carry fruits

Because mountains are close?


Native means they have always lived here? Then of course not.


They bear good fruit if the main branches survived winter and the summer is hot.

In the first post you can see a fig tree still in the pot, it has one fig. I put three such saplings into the ground in spring 2017 and look at one of them in 2018.

• 
  2019a108.jpg
  

Another beautiful plant which is too delicate for Polish climate is Lagerstroemia. I once had two little ones and they didn`t survive winter like palm trees. I saw a lot of pics of that plant growing in US cities.

• 
  lagerstroemiaindyjs.jpg
  

I think I wrote in another thread that last year I bought and planted a few dozen flower plants which bloom June-August. One third of them didn`t survive either the drought or winter, never mind, they disappeared. I thought one of them was Tritomea (torch lilly), but later I noticed its revival and today a flower forming. Funny -it comes from South Africa.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kniphofia_uvaria

• 
  220pxKniphofia_uvar.jpg
  

Do you plant zucchinis? I do, but due to hot weather there's no fruit yet... Many things can be gardening in White Garden of Poland. Planting the curing Serbian influence is one of them.

Coop, why are you suddenly talking about Serbian influence?? P:):):):)


Are you sure you are talking about this zucchinis? They love hot weather, when it is 15 degrees, they fall asleep. The fruit comes later in summer, now it is too early in our climate, unless one has a greenhouse. My zucchinis just started blooming.

Last year`s were really giant. It is amazing how one bush can provide 10 kilos or more.

Below is a presentation of what I grow (or try to grow)

This year I planted a lot of veg as usual, some are growing nicely, some not. Mostly the same stuff as in previous years but new varieties - tomatoes, zucchini and its cultivar called kabaczek, melon, watermelon, broad beans, radish, sorrel, basil, marjoram, spring onion, summer onion, garlic, parsley, carrot, lettuce, kohlrabi, red beetroot, chive, dill, chilli and regular pepper, leek, artichoke, cauliflower, celery, black and yellow turnip, root chicory, pumpkin.

• 
  2017a133.jpg
  
• 
  2017a134.jpg
  
• 
  2017a135.jpg
  

"Many things can be gardening in White Garden of Poland. Planting the curing Serbian influence is one of them." - those are not my words. I think it's some bug from moderator... I recall there was a post from someone else here, but now I don't see it

We already have one first cropped and many are coming :) We plant zucchinis in the end of april in flower pots, then replant them when its warm at night. They grow well until october

Hey, yes, you were right, I just went to check and one flower had changed into a small fruit. They are so fast. :) I read a recipe for mizeria with zucchini instead of traditional cucumbers. I must try it out.


I tried to to such tricks with different plants but our cats nibbled at seedlings and secondly, there is no direct sunlight through the windows because of loggias, so the plants grew long and weak and I realised it didn`t make sense apart from one species - tomatoes. This year I bought a few tomato seedlings at the open air market but two dozen are the ones from my window sill.

Do you know Physalis? In Poland it is also called Brazilian raisin. I had a few plants last year. Not so big and yellow as those from the supermarket, but still sweet.

• 
  2018a6.jpg
  

If they build an artificial mountain nearby the border with Kaliningrad and the Baltics or the Ukrainian border the Polish climate would become milder as it'd shed you from most cold air from Russia. ;)

:) Low temperatures come both from Russia and Western Europe - I suppose there is a balance in nature.

• 
  Weather in Europe
  

Yesterday we picked the only nectarine that grew on a young tree. It looked delicious but was less sweet than ripe nectarines from the shop. I had the same impression last year after trying our melons and watermelons. It occured to me such exotic fruit can grow in Polish climate but will never be as sweet as imported. I suspect keeping them under foil in a primitive green house or at least a tunnel would improve the situation. I must think about it next year, especially that I have practically finished more important works in and around the house.

• 
  Watermelons
  
• 
  Do you know this naked seeded pumpkin?
  
• 
  Artichoke
  
• 
  2018a74.jpg