Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Weeping Love Grass (Eragrostis curvula)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called weeping love grass, African love grass.

More about weeping love grass

About Weeping Love Grass

Eragrostis curvula · also called weeping love grass, African love grass · flowering

Weeping love grass is a vigorous, warm-season African grass with graceful, arching dark-green leaves and delicate, purplish-grey panicles in summer. Extremely heat- and drought-tolerant, it is widely used for erosion control, roadsides, and tough dry-garden applications. Its rapid establishment and prolific seeding make it invasive in some regions — check local guidance before planting.

Cold limit: USDA 7–11 · RHS H4 (−10°C to 42°C)

What weeping love grass's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — weeping love grass is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H4 and USDA 7–11, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H4 means: Hardy in an average winter across much of the temperate world. On the US scale that maps to USDA 7–11 — 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 to −5 °C. Weeping Love Grass is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for weeping love grass as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −10 to −5 °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 weeping love grass go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 7–11 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 weeping love grass can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H4 figure above.

Weeping Love Grass hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is weeping love grass cold hardy?

Yes — weeping love grass is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H4 and USDA 7–11, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. Weeping Love Grass is hardy across USDA 7–11; 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 weeping love grass can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −10 to −5 °C. Weeping Love Grass is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is weeping love grass?

Weeping Love Grass is rated USDA 7–11 and RHS H4 — Hardy in an average winter across much of the temperate world.

Can weeping love grass survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 7–11 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 weeping love grass below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −10 to −5 °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.