Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Betony (Stachys betonica)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called wood betony, betony, bishop's wort.

More about betony

About Betony

Stachys betonica · also called wood betony, betony · herb

Betony (Stachys betonica, also known as Stachys officinalis) is a clump-forming European perennial with crinkled, scalloped basal leaves and upright spikes of magenta-purple flowers in summer. A long-valued medicinal and pollinator herb, it tolerates a wide range of soils, copes with part shade, and makes tidy front-of-border groundcover. It is easygoing, drought-resilient once established, and evergreen in mild winters.

Cold limit: USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial) · RHS H7 (-29 to 30°C)

Watch for — Crown rot in wet soil: Waterlogged or poorly drained ground rots the crown; plant in free-draining soil and avoid winter wet.

What betony's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — betony is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H7 and USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial), it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H7 means: Hardy in the severest European continental winters. On the US scale that maps to USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial) — 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 below about −20 °C. Betony is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for betony as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −20 °C once established.
Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root.
First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.

Can betony go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial) and it overwinters with little or no help.
It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy.
The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

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 betony can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H7 figure above.

Betony hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is betony cold hardy?

Yes — betony is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H7 and USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial), it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. Betony is hardy across USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial); it belongs in the ground or a frost-proof container, not on a windowsill, and many types actively need a cold winter to perform.

What is the minimum temperature betony can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly below about −20 °C. Betony is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is betony?

Betony is rated USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial) and RHS H7 — Hardy in the severest European continental winters.

Can betony survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 4-8 (cold-hardy outdoor perennial) and it overwinters with little or no help. It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy. The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

What happens to betony below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −20 °C once established. Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root. First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.