What’s Your Zone?

Hey, cutie, what’s your zone?  Pick up line?  Naw, just garden center conversation starter.  If someone were to use that line on me, how would I respond?  With indecision, that’s how. 

If I could zoom in far enough on the USDA map, maybe I could tell whether they say I’m in Zone 7a or 6b, but I can’t find a site that will allow me to zoom in closer than the entire mid-Atlantic region.  Pretty useless, really. HGTV says I’m Zone 7a. The Arbor Day Foundation and the American Horticultural Society say I’m squarely in the middle of Zone 7. Better Homes and Gardens puts me in Zone 6b with Zone 4b located just a few miles away to the west and 9a a few miles to the east. What happened to Zones 5, 7 and 8? I’d love to know where that imaginary line is that takes me magically from Zone 6b into 4b or 9a.  Would I see different plants?  Would the plants respect that line (snicker, snort)?  I guess the BHG is a map you can afford to disregard.

Aw, heck.  Does it matter?  Yes, it does.  I gardened for more than 10 years here in Maryland thinking I was in Zone 6.  Then I “discovered” I might be in Zone 7.  Did it change the plants I was using?  No.  Did I lose a single plant because I thought I was in a zone I really wasn’t in?  No.  Did I lose plants because I didn’t take care of them properly?  Let’s not go there. I want to chalk those situations up to learning experiences; after all, experience is the best teacher, and may their little plant souls rest in peace.  But, if I’d planted a plant with a Zone 8-10 range here where I live, I’m pretty sure it would not be around right now.  Same for plants that require cooler climates than my Zone 6b, or Zone 7 or wherever I am, can provide.  I was always told we couldn’t grow Rosemary and Lavender outside over the winter here.  Hello.  I had Lavender bushes with trunks (yes, trunks) over two inches in diameter.  The Rosemary would have been as substantial if big air conditioning guy hadn’t planted his 300+ pound feet on top of it multiple times.  But it didn’t die.  True, these plants were in a south-facing ell created by my house and garage, but thrive they did. 

This past Sunday, Paul James, The Gardener Guy of Gardening by the Yard on HGTV, had a piece on climate zones.  One thing he emphasized was microclimates.  While you likely won’t be able to cross more than a zone, you can be in Zone 6b and create a Zone 7 or 7b microclimate by planting things in a sheltered spot, such as against a masonry wall in a south facing location.  I’m pretty sure I created a microclimate for the Lavender and Rosemary.  I’m also sure I created a microclimate much too warm for my doublefile viburnum when I attempted to espalier it against a cream-colored vinyl siding wall that faced south.  Poor thing started looking burned even in late spring.  By mid summer, no matter how much I watered it, the leaves were shriveled and starting to drop. When I moved it 40 feet away from the house into a slightly shady area, it took off and obviously forgave me for trying to fry it.  So, with plants, just like real estate, location is everything.  Sometimes just a few feet can make a huge difference.

While climate zones matter, you may be able to grow things not ideally suited to your zone by creating microclimates. It may take a little extra work on your part, but if it’s a plant you love and just have to have, it may be worth the effort.

Transplanting Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Several years ago, we cleared some box elder trees (trash trees in my opinion) and brush.  After clearing them, we found two Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants.  They were located at the base of an ash tree, and we were thrilled to find them.  We left them be and enjoyed them, though they seemed to have a rough year.  The smaller green one was used by leaf-cutter bees, so its leaves had a number of chunks removed.  They both began to look a bit ragged as the summer went along, but the green and purple one produced a seed head.  I just let it be, and they both came up the next year. 

At that point, I got curious and looked them up on the internet.  Lo and behold, Jack-in-the-Pulpit are really woodland plants preferring shade.  When we’d cleared the box elders and brush, we’d removed the shade.  Our two plants weren’t in sun all day, but they did have sun a majority of the time.  Once we discovered they needed shade, we decided to transplant them. 

This spring was the time.  I was afraid to transplant them because I was afraid I’d lose them.  We’d really come to love them and wanted to have them around for along time.  Since I knew nothing about transplanting them, I looked it up on the web.  I found sources saying transplanting them would be easy to sources saying it would be hard.  All of the sources said they didn’t like to be overly wet in the winter or spring.  Joy.  We’re having a VERY wet spring.  I decided to dive in anyway and move them. 

I started with the green one, which was smaller.  I used a perennial fork and dug far away from the plant, not knowing what I would find.  I knew they were bulbs, but I didn’t know how large the bulbs would be.  I was surprised to find the soil wasn’t as bad as I thought, and the clump crumbled when I lifted it.  To my surprise, there wasn’t one bulb, there were many.  Some of the bulbs were very tiny, about a quarter inch in size, and had a single leaf attached.  Based on my reading, these were one year old plants.  Some bulbs were slightly larger and had two leaves, making them two year olds.  Each of the three blooming plants was at least three years old, and their bulbs were closer to an inch in size.  I guess I got about 6 or 7 plants from the one clump.  Once I’d planted them in our woodland garden, I tackled the larger green and purple clump.  I guess I got 10 or more plants from that one. 

The babies are all nestled in a single location and appear to be doing well.  After more than a week in their new homes, I think they’ll make it if I can keep the squirrels from digging them up.  The blooming plants also appear to be doing well and have actually gotten larger since I transplanted them.  As we were planting them in their new homes, we found a leaf cluster from another plant just next to where we were planting, so we have a third cluster we didn’t know about. It’s not yet blooming, but it’s right where it should be. 

I hope I have a happy tale to tell next spring and that all the transplants make it through.  Stay tuned.

Here is a photo of the green and purple one blooming before it was moved.

Girl Gets Dirty

I’ve been blogging for a while, and I decided it was time for a gardening blog.  While I do have gardening posts over at my other blog, http://toomuchstuff.typepad.com , that blog is about all sorts of things.  I wanted a blog devoted exclusively to gardening.  Hopefully you’ll find some useful information here and maybe a nice photo or two.  Now, to add some content!