In this Garden & Gun article, Dan Herms, vice president of research and development at the Davey Institute, talks about changing plant hardiness zones.
As hardiness zones shift and temperatures warm unevenly, choose the right plants and help them thrive.
Gardening is a win-some, lose-some game in the best of times, but these days Mother Nature is more like a mother bear who has been crossed one too many times. Right now in Atlanta, where I live, a string of sub-freezing nights is roughing up the tender dogwood blossoms ushered in by a temperate February. (The phrase “dogwood winter” describes an unseasonable cold snap in mid- to late spring, but what do you call it when the flowers appear a month early?) Last summer, you’d have forgiven my neighbors and me for entertaining citrus- and bromeliad-studded daydreams as we bushwhacked our way through steaming backyard jungles. Then along came a Christmas deep freeze to burst our water pipes and visions of Meyer lemons.
To read Dan’s comments, click here.