Re: OT-Freezing weather

My comments on freezing of hardy plants may not apply if temperatures go
much below 18F, as I understand they have over much of the plains and are
due to reach those levels in the northeast tonight and tomorrow night.
Here in central Virginia we are expecting mid to upper 20s, with low 20s
possible in "cold spots".  Even plants as hardy as daffodils can be injured
by sudden drops into the low teens, or even killed.  Only time will tell.

The distributions of tender plants are limited by the minimum low
temperature, not the average low. Hence we seen palms doing quite nicely on
the west coast of Scotland, where temperatures rarely exceed 60F, but where
freezes are exceedingly rare.  I understand a fair number of gardens with
such plants were wiped out in the recent hard winter (is this true, any UK
lister?).  We've all had the experience of growing things way out of range,
then reality sets in with a "normal" winter.

Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@tiger.hsc.edu>
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