Zone Shift

19 years ago

There was an article in the Washington Post today that said the DC area is warming and is beginning to affect trees, with the colder-loving species less happy and the southern species thriving.

Most of Virginia was already zone 7, but apparently a much larger area is now and a lot of NC moved up to a zone 8. The article says that DC is the new North Carolina, climate-wise.

Just thought it was interesting. I don't know if we'll be able to grow much more than we already do. The article stated that things like southern magnolias, crepe myrtles, camellias, and bald cypresses will now grow here. But as far as I can see, we had southern magnolias and crepe myrtles just fine before.

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Comments (4)

cynthia_gw
19 years ago
Looks like old news which a Post writer revived for an article in winter :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Post Article - may disappear in a few days
kimka
19 years ago
The Post article was prompted by the Arbor Day Foundation issuing their version of an updated hardiness zone map. It is NOT the "official" USDA map.

The problem with it is that is uses only the last fifteen years of weather data (a very warm period, possibly exacerbating any signs of global warming), Remember the 70s were a very cold period and the climate people were talking about a new ice age coming. Balacing climate vs. weather is a real problem is making hardiness zone maps.

The second concern I have with the Arbor Day Foundation map is that they give no information about how they drew the lines between weather data station. The new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map that is being worked on is creating a very sophisticated algorithm that will interpolate between the data points taking into account slop of the land prevailing winds elevation changes etc.

Will some zones shift warmer in the new USDA map? Probably. As warm as the Arbor Day Foundation map, probably not.

What I remind everyone is that your yard is a micro-climate and may be warmer or cooler than your official zone and spots within your yard can be mini-micro-climates. Learn what thrives in your yard and go with that. Then push the envelop once in a while just for fun.

KimKa

Warning: I am the person who handles the public/media for the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. And I have sworn a mighty oath that the garden forums I belong to will get first notification when the new edition of the USDA plant hardiness is published.
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oscarthecat
19 years ago
All that hot air issuing from the Capitol and nearby areas I am surprised DC is not zone ten. Steve in Baltimore County
sujiwan_gw 6b MD/PA
19 years ago
I was going to post about this article if no one else did. :-)
Good points made above.
I don't know about you, but whenever I hear people who say things like "If this is the result of global warming, I'll take it!" as they throw a frizbee in shorts on a December Day, I just cringe.
I'm already concerned about chilling hours for fruit trees, bugs that won't die off without the freezes, native trees that will be displaced by the warm-preferring species and the homogenization of the the eastern flora.

Fooey.