Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Beautiful Sundew (Drosera venusta)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called beautiful sundew.

More about beautiful sundew

About Beautiful Sundew

Drosera venusta · also called beautiful sundew · houseplant

Drosera venusta is a South African tuberous-rooted sundew forming an upright rosette of narrow, strap-like leaves densely clothed in glistening red tentacles. It is an active grower in warm humid conditions and produces pink flowers on tall stems. Unlike temperate sundews it does not require a dormancy period, making it a rewarding year-round windowsill carnivore.

Cold limit: USDA 10-12 · RHS H1b (15-30°C)

What beautiful sundew's hardiness rating actually means

Beautiful Sundew is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-12 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Beautiful Sundew has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for beautiful sundew as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can beautiful sundew go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when beautiful sundew can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Beautiful Sundew hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is beautiful sundew cold hardy?

Beautiful Sundew is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Beautiful Sundew can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-12); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature beautiful sundew can survive?

What hardiness zone is beautiful sundew?

Beautiful Sundew is rated USDA 10-12 and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can beautiful sundew survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to beautiful sundew below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.