In the about me
section on the left hand side of my blog, I have the words “Hopefully
Always Inspirational”. Well today, we are going to go for some of
that.
Last night was the
first time this season that my yard suffered through below freezing
temperatures. We have had some frosts, but this was the first time it
dropped below 32 degrees. It actually went all the way to 29. The
extent of time at the below 32 mark was somewhere in the 5-6 hour
range, that is important and I will delve into that here shortly.
Why do I bring this
up?
Well, anybody that
has been following me or knows me, knows that I grow many unusual,
not from around here, type of plants. I live in a Zone 8 and probably
half of my plants can barely survive a Zone 9 garden.
Yes, I have a
greenhouse, but I still have been doing a lot of “trials” as it
were this year. Okay, truth is, they didn't all fit into the
greenhouse this year...amazing thing, the plants either grew or the
greenhouse shrunk....The intelligence report is still forth coming on
that.
Anyway, after the
wicked cold we had, I was sure there was going to be a bunch of very
unhappy plants. There are.
There are also a bunch of them
that, by all rights, should be dead as a doornail!
Here are a few
examples of the ones that don't look so good:
Yellow Brugmansia
Not much of a
surprise there huh?
Well, here are the
ones that shook it off like it was nothing:
Surinam Cherry
There are a couple
of things at play here, let's take a look at a few of them.
The plants
themselves.
When we think of
many “exotic” fruit trees, we think of the shores of Hawaii or
maybe down in Brazil or even Southern most Florida. Let me use the
Surinam Cherry as an example.
The plant is native
to Surinam, Guyana and French Guiana to southern Brazil (especially
the states of Rio de Janeiro, Paraña, Santa Catharina and Rio
Grande do Sul), and to Northern, Eastern and central Uruguay. Sounds
pretty mild, almost like a tropical oasis, right? They probably don't
have too many ski slopes or uses for ice scrapers. Yet, through trial
and error it has been discovered that young Surinam Cherries can be
damaged by temperatures below 28 degrees, and well-established plants
have suffered only superficial injury at 22 degrees. Do they actually
get that cold there or can plants adapt to more than we give them
credit for?
Duration. I
mentioned above that the killer cold was here for maybe 5-6 hours.
This can be critical. Plants have the uncanny ability to protect
themselves for brief periods of time. After that time is up, then the
plant will die. My Citrus is a good example of this. They will go
semi dormant. They do not lose their leaves like, say a maple tree
does, but it still hunkers down and gets ready for the cold. As long
as a plant is well watered and healthy, it can possibly survive brief
encounters into the very cold abyss.
There is also
another reason for the “so far” good luck in the survival rates
of my exotic plants, Microclimates.
A
microclimate is the climate of a small area that is different from
the area around it. It may be warmer or colder, wetter or drier, or
more or less prone to frosts.
Take another look at the Peanut Butter Fruit Tree. It is right NEXT
to the house and tucked slightly under some other trees. Both of
those things offer some protection from the cold and frost. There are
other things that effect microclimates. On a large scale, bodies of
water will keep surrounding areas warmer. As will roads, buildings,
walls, even large rocks can absorb heat during the day and give off a
couple of degrees of protection at night. Heavy
clay soils can act much like paved surfaces, moderating the
temperature near ground level.
If
you live in a valley, you will be cooler than your neighbors up hill.
Cold air is heavier than warm, so it settles down into that open
area.
Long
time gardeners in an area have learned to take advantage of these
type of areas. If you are just moving into a place, it will be
difficult to know where the micros are. A couple of pieces of advice,
look at your neighbors, see what they are growing. Investigate the
yard at different times of the day, month and year, it will
consistently be changing. I understand, that one is time consuming,
so don't be in a hurry to plant a whole bunch of stuff until you
learn what you have. You can also ask around, check with your local
extension agents.
If
you don't feel like doing any of those things, or want to experiment
with some plants that just don't sound like they will do well where
you are and PLEASE, use some common sense here.....I promise, a
coconut palm tree will NOT grow in Maine.....remember the title of
this article...Just Trial It!!
Happy
Growing!
Darren
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