CULT: USDA Zones

From: Sharon McAllister <73372.1745@compuserve.com>

 RYFigge@aol.com  wrote:

>  Sharon, you did not say what State or USDA  zone you are in--- many are
>  omitting this information.  Since I'm trying to keep the Reblooming
Checklist
>  up-to-date, the omission of this data makes it difficult.  Please!  

Some people like to include location information on every post.  While I
certainly don't object, I prefer to do it only on relevant ones because I'm
in a microclimate that gets assigned to different zones depending on which
map you consult.   When I do address cultural concerns, I have to include a
lot more than zone # to describe the conditions.  

I'm in southern New Mexico.  Maps place us in either Zone 7 or 8.  Winter
temperatures place us in Zone 6 or 7.  Neither method adequately depicts
local growing conditions.  We've had an unusually warm fall this year, with
one damaging frost, but still no hard freeze.  So we still need to have the
a/c to keep the house under 80 degrees in the daytime.  Needless to say, I
haven't even turned the heat on yet.  Plants haven't lapsed into their
normal fall dormancy, yet there's an excellent chance we'll have sub-zero
temperatures within the next six weeks.

But summers are the reason you get no rebloom reports from me.  By June,
normal temperatures are routinely over 100 and the humidity under 20% --
with some days over 110 degrees with single-digit RHs .  Kind of like
stepping out into a dessicating oven.  Arils and most arilbreds cope by
going dormant.  TBs need shade cloth to survive, but not even shadecloth
has been sufficient to coax rebloom.

Evaporative coolers are the norm here, and because they don't recirculate
the air like refrigerated units a window must be left open to alleviate the
pressure.  The bed in which I managed to get rebloom was located directly
below the open window, where it got full sun only until about 10 a.m.,
partial shade until about 2 p.m., and full shade for the rest of the day. 
A successful experiment, but not exactly what one would normally do to
promote rebloom.

Now, my own pet peeve is an unsigned message -- so I guess we're even.  
<G>

Sharon McAllister
73372.1745@compuserve.com

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