Dracaenas are members of the Dracaena genus, tropical evergreens that range from small to large shrubs and trees.
Most often grown as houseplants, in regions with mild winters they can also be grown as garden perennials, with some species, such as D. indivisa, hardy to Zone 7 – but most are frost tender and hardy only in Zones 9 to 11.
In the landscape, many dracaena grow much larger than houseplants, adding drama and beauty with striking, strappy or sword-like leaves in a variety of heights and shapes.
In the right conditions, they’ll flower, producing large clusters of pink or creamy white blooms that mature into green drupes.
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In Zones 10 and 11, they won’t require safeguarding from the cold, but Zone 9 plants may need protection to retain their leafy canopies and keep the roots healthy through hard frosts or unexpected cold spells.
In regions outside of their hardiness range, dracaenas can be kept alive over the winter months by potting up for storage in a frost-free area.
These plants are famously easy to grow and this is true of those in outdoor cultivation as well.
However, if your garden is visited by frost or the occasional snowfall, they’ll need your help to stay vibrantly healthy.
So before the snow flies, let’s get into the details about how to care for your dracaena plants during the winter months!
Here’s a look at what’s ahead:
How to Overwinter Dracaena
As houseplants, dracaenas are loved for their handsome foliage, stately forms, and easy-care nature.
And cultivation is equally easy in the garden.
To get the most from your plantings, provide them with well-draining and humus rich soil amended with plenty of organic materials such as compost, well-rotted manure, or worm castings.
Use organic materials as a top or side dressing each spring, and when planting, mix in one or two parts with the garden soil.
They also prefer soil with a slightly acidic pH of 6.0 to 6.5.
For lighting, the ideal is full sun to partial or dappled shade – in areas with intense afternoon sunshine, morning sun with afternoon shade is best.
In the garden, plants can grow much larger than when cultivated indoors as houseplants.
Many will remain in the range of three or four feet, such as the snake plant, D. trifasciata, while others such as the dragon tree, D. cochinchinensis, can easily grow over 20 feet tall.
Flowering rarely occurs with houseplants, but mature garden varieties often produce large panicles of pale green, pink, or creamy white tubular flowers in summer, followed by green berries or drupes that contain the seeds.
In Zones 10 to 11, protective cold weather care typically isn’t needed.
But in areas on the margins of their cold hardiness, some proactive steps can help the plants survive infrequent bouts of inclement weather.
And in colder regions outside of their hardiness range, dracaenas are grown as annuals.
You can easily keep them alive for another growing season (or several) by overwintering them in a frost-free room or shed.
1. Protect the Root Zone
Preventing the root zone from freezing during hard frosts or occasional cold spells is crucial to their survival.
To keep the soil and roots from freezing hard, a thick layer of mulch does the job.
Before the first frost date, clean your plants and their beds. Remove any dead or dying leaves with clean, sharp garden shears or scissors.
At the same time, clean beds and rake up plant matter from the soil surface. Decaying organic matter in garden beds is a favorite overwintering site for many unfriendly pests.
After cleaning your plants and beds, lay down a thick, three- to six-inch layer of mulch, depending on how severe your frosts/cold spells are.
I have two large clumps of “annual” dracaenas in my Zone 9 garden that were planted over 25 years ago and they always survive spells of freezing temperatures with a four-inch mulch.
Use materials such as chipped bark, shredded leaves, straw, or even pebbles, spreading it thickly over the root zone and extending it out to the drip line.
A thick mulch not only protects the roots from cold temperatures, but it also keeps them safe from heaving above the soil line in freeze and thaw cycles.
Remove mulches in spring after all danger of frost has passed.
2. Canopy Cover
Along with the roots being susceptible to damage from cold temperatures, the canopy of leaves are frost tender as well.
Freezing temperatures can cause leaves to blacken and die off or the entire canopy may suffer, first turning brown at the crown where the leaves emerge from the stem, then collapsing entirely.
If you’re in Zone 9 and expect cold nights, you can protect the foliage by covering it with burlap, an old sheet, or a frost protection blanket.
Avoid using sheets of polyurethane – plastic touching the leaves can transfer cold temperatures and cause even more damage.
I use spun bond frost cover that is available by the linear foot from Arbico Organics.
Gently drape the protective fabric over the canopy, using poles or stakes to prop it up into a tent to keep it from touching the leaves if needed.
Secure the drape to the plant’s stem or supporting stakes with clips or by tying the four corners together.
Now, I have to confess, when my trees grow more than 10 feet tall I don’t cover the canopies.
It’s too much work for this lazy gardener, and should a cold spell kill the crowns, I don’t mind the change.
But the root zone always gets a good mulch so that the basal shoots stay healthy enough to replace what nature takes away – out with the old, in with the new!
A string of small holiday lights spread through the canopy can also produce a little heat to keep it warmer for short periods of time, but only if they’re the old incandescent bulbs – LED bulbs run cool and won’t produce enough heat to make a difference.
Remove canopy covers once the danger of frost has passed.
3. Tie Up Basal Shoots
Mature dracaena plants push up basal shoots each year and the tender new growth may require protection from cold temperatures or snowy buildups.
To protect the root zone of basal shoots, use a thick mulch as outlined above.
To keep the crowns of young shoots healthy over winter, they need to be shielded from build ups of ice or snow, which can flatten the foliage and quickly cause crown rot.
You can tent the foliage with a frost blanket and stakes, or a cloche set over top of the tender shoots is an easy way to keep the crowns covered.
If your dracaena is too big for a cloche, you can gently tie the foliage together to form tight spears.
Tying the foliage together greatly reduces the surface area so snow and ice can’t settle, plus it effectively envelops the crown, shielding it from the cold.
Use garden or kitchen twine to wrap the shoots. Gather the foliage together into manageable bundles, then start wrapping the twine at the bottom.
Work up to the leaf tips, then reverse direction and wrap back down to the bottom again. Tie the ends together in a simple bow.
Untie basal shoots once the chance of frost has passed.
4. Pot Up Annuals
For those gardens outside of their hardiness range, dracaenas need to be grown as annuals.
Left in the garden, they’ll die off from freezing temperatures. They can easily be lifted and transferred into pots to grow as houseplants or stored for winter in frost-free areas before going back into the garden next spring.
Potted up as houseplants, dracaena plants won’t require any special treatment to prepare for winter but do withhold fertilizer during this time.
You can learn more about growing dracaena as a houseplant here.
To overwinter garden plants, in early fall carefully dig them up, keeping the rootball intact.
Transplant into containers large enough to accommodate the roots plus a few inches of space at the bottom and sides.
Top with potting soil then move containers into a cool or unheated room in the basement, greenhouse, garage, or shed – ideal storage temperatures are between 55 and 70°F.
Place them in bright but indirect light and water occasionally when the top two inches of soil dries.
When the danger of frost has passed, return your plants to the garden and replant into beds or planters.
5. Collect Stem Cuttings
If your plants are too large or difficult to transplant into pots, or you don’t have a place to store potted annuals, another option is to stock up on stem cuttings.
Dracaenas are easily propagated this way, giving gardeners outside of their cold hardiness range another opportunity to outwit winter!
Taking stem cuttings is an economical way to increase your plant inventory without breaking the garden budget.
Stem cuttings can be taken in summer or early fall, keep them safe over winter, then plant them out the following growing season.
You can learn more about how to propagate dracaena from cuttings here.
Cold Workarounds
Although most species of dracaena are frost tender, there are ways to work around their limitations to keep them healthy for another growing season.
In areas where they might experience occasional frost or cold spells, keep the roots healthy and strong with a thick winter mulch, which also prevents heaving.
If snow’s in the forecast, cover the canopies with a cloche or frost blanket or tie up basal shoots to keep the crowns safe.
Plants grown as annuals can be potted up to overwinter safely in a frost-free area or you can take stem cuttings in late summer to restock your inventory.
Keeping your dracaena safe in cold weather takes a little bit of work, but you’ll be rewarded with lush stands of tropical foliage for many seasons to come!
How about you folks, any favorite cold weather care tips that we’ve missed? Share your ideas in the comments section below!
And for more information about growing dracaena plants, add these guides to your reading list next:
