Crug Farm

Crug Farm only about 37 miles from me [as the Crow flies!}. They are really reliable and a very interesting place to visit and although not knowing where you live, Sirius, I would recommend you visit them. They are proper Plant Hunters and close the site in the Autumn to go looking for plants and seeds in Asia.
They are real experts and know their stuff as they've been doing it for years. As for their hardiness assessments they really are as accurate and realistic as it can get as they have been getting reports back from customers for years. Having said that all plants have their quirks and it's up to you as a gardener to make sure the plants are sited in the right place and looked after!!
I've bought some really unusual plants from them over the years and had very little trouble with them. What failures I have had have been minor and due to my own inexperience at the time.:wallbang: Nearly all my exotics are in pots and and I don't take the risk of losing them to a harsh Winter whatever the Hardiness Rating is given, even by the RHS! So all my exotics come into shelter just to make sure. It's a matter of personal choice of what you buy but they will give you honest, experienced advice on the plants should you buy some.

 

An excellent company I can thoroughly recommend them..

 

I think if you were to contact them regarding your doubts they would give you the facts without trying to make a sale. They do supply a lot of Exotic Plant Retailers and their reputation is very high.

Hmmm. Herts is a long way to travel as they are just off the Welsh Coast road [A55], but as I said it is a very interesting place......the only danger being that if you did visit them you would buy a lot more than you intended!!! As you say there's some very interesting stuff.

The thing is I don't care how experienced a gardener is but every plant you buy is always a risk no matter what the price!!! Some plants I have bought confidently have, to my surprise and indignation!!, failed when I expected great success, and I'm not just referring to exotics!!!. There are differing opinions of individual plant's hardiness and some plants that are tender and shouldn't be, but are, grown in the North with success where they should, according to the Hardiness rating, have failed. I have the space to shelter the exotics in a "Cool Room" and in my Kitchen over the Winter and I gave that aspect some thought before buying. Although I have a Green House it is not heated during the Winter so I don't use that. It just needs some realistic thought on your part as to the pros and cons of certain exotics and whether or not you can give them shelter

 

We do that all the time, Sirius, which gives us the joys and tragedies that make up gardening!!! Go with what you think will make you happy but always have a glass of realism by your side

 

There was nothing freak about that Winter, Sirius!!!! Great Britain is renown for it's mixture of Winter temperatures where we can have a really long mild spell then a catastrophic short period of devastating cold in which all the damage is done. A lot of gardeners lost Cabbage Palms, Bananas and Cordylines during the last "mild" Winter of 2011. It's only a little while when it was usual in the UK to have a very harsh Winter every year.Having said that we have some very knowledgeable and experienced exotic plant gardeners on Gardeners Corner who have succeeded in leaving plants outside to their satisfaction although not without losses. I think it's a case of either being courageous [or rash] enough to take the gamble and I can understand your longing to emulate your garden as it was in South Africa. Perhaps some of those more experienced to leaving exotic plants outside during the Winter can suggest ways and means of raising the odds of success. I don't put a lot of faith in fleece and straw as a method of protection although it is used and recommended by some gardeners.