Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Queen's Tears (Billbergia nutans)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Queen's Tears, Friendship Plant, Queen's Tears Bromeliad, Tartan Flower, Angel's Tears.

More about queen's tears

About Queen's Tears

Billbergia nutans · also called Queen's Tears, Friendship Plant · tropical

Queen's Tears (Billbergia nutans) is an easy-going epiphytic bromeliad forming arching grassy rosettes that send up pink-bracted, blue-edged pendant flowers in spring. Give it bright indirect light, soft water in its central cup, and fast-draining soil. ASPCA does not list it, so treat as mildly toxic and confirm with a vet.

Cold limit: USDA USDA 10-11 outdoors (RHS H2); grow as a houseplant or under glass in cooler climates. Tolerates brief dips to about 7C (45F) but is damaged by frost. (18-24C)

What queen's tears's hardiness rating actually means

Queen's Tears 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 H1c means: Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost. On the US scale that maps to USDA USDA 10-11 outdoors (RHS H2); grow as a houseplant or under glass in cooler climates. Tolerates brief dips to about 7C (45F) but is damaged by frost. — 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 5 °C (and never frost). Queen's Tears has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for queen's tears as it gets too cold:

Below about about 5 °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 queen's tears go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °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 queen's tears can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1c figure above.

Queen's Tears hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is queen's tears cold hardy?

Queen's Tears 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. Queen's Tears can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA USDA 10-11 outdoors (RHS H2); grow as a houseplant or under glass in cooler climates. Tolerates brief dips to about 7C (45F) but is damaged by frost.); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature queen's tears can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Queen's Tears has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is queen's tears?

Queen's Tears is rated USDA USDA 10-11 outdoors (RHS H2); grow as a houseplant or under glass in cooler climates. Tolerates brief dips to about 7C (45F) but is damaged by frost. and RHS H1c — Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost.

Can queen's tears survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °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 queen's tears below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 5 °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.