Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Lipstick Vine (Aeschynanthus radicans)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Lipstick Vine, Lipstick Plant, Basket Vine.

More about lipstick vine

About Lipstick Vine

Aeschynanthus radicans · also called Lipstick Vine, Lipstick Plant · tropical

Aeschynanthus radicans is a popular epiphytic trailing houseplant native to the humid tropical rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia, grown for its glossy dark-green leaves and striking tubular scarlet flowers that emerge from deep burgundy-purple calyces like a lipstick from its tube. It thrives in hanging baskets indoors and requires consistent warmth, high humidity, and bright indirect light to flower reliably. The single most important care fact is to avoid cold draughts and temperatures below 15°C, which cause rapid leaf drop and bud blast. The ASPCA confirms that Aeschynanthus (lipstick plant) is non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses.

Cold limit: USDA 10-11 · RHS H1b (18–27°C)

What lipstick vine's hardiness rating actually means

Lipstick Vine 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 10-11 — 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). Lipstick Vine has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for lipstick vine 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 lipstick vine 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 lipstick vine can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Lipstick Vine hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is lipstick vine cold hardy?

Lipstick Vine 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. Lipstick Vine can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-11); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature lipstick vine can survive?

What hardiness zone is lipstick vine?

Lipstick Vine is rated USDA 10-11 and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can lipstick vine 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 lipstick vine 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.