bananarama2

I couldn't take it any more! Unfortunately, a lot of the dialogue here is focused on personal experience, and perhaps one should look at the question of hardiness in terms of giving the plant in question the best possibility of survival in a given planting location. A zone 7 is a zone 7 wherever you find it. Factors such as warm water bodies, frontal v.s. lee-side of mountains, prevailing winds, snow cover, etc. all have an effect on zone....it isn't solely the absolute high and low temperatures of a location. For example, moist soil holds daytime heat, and can bump a zone rating up from a 5 to a 5a perhaps. In your home yard environment, a southfacing wall with good wind protection and steady moisture can mimic a zone one or two zones higher than one on the opposite side of the house. The point is, I guess, to consider the needs of the plant, and if you can meet them, then consider planting it. Tropical plants in a Mid-West climate will usually be a bit of a crapshoot, but sometimes one can get away with it if the local variables modify the environment. My basjoo is happy without protection, as long as I protect it from too much winter moisture. Planting depth is kind of tricky with many plants, which like to be within a certain range to take advantage of soil heat, moisture, etc. Mulching in fall, then removing some or all of it in spring is preferable to planting deeper. Part of a zone rating has to do with how deep into the soil frost penetrates. By mulching, you trick the frost from contacting the still living root mass of a plant, while maintaining the previous mentioned soil characteristics. Also, depending on water tables, deeper planting may accelerate root rot conditions if the water table is high. Just my thoughts...but we all want our plants to thrive.

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Bob

Well put bananarama2, I have figs here that have survived and produced fruit regularly here in zone 6 where most people wrap theirs just by having it next to the house foundation which holds extra heat in its southwest facing microclimate . Every little extra thing you can do to help out these marginaly hardy plants adds up and sometime with great success.

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bananarama2

Thanks Bob....and I guess a belated Happy Birthday is owed you! Being a relative newcomer here, I kept asking "Who's Bob?, until I saw your latest post! Hope it will be a great year for you! Oh, and I just planted a fig (Brown Turkey) here last spring, now a recognizable tree from a whip with half a dozen buds on it. It's in a sunny spot, surrounded by a hedge for protection, and looks extremely happy there.

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turtile

This is true for the Canadian Zone Map but not for the United States. The US Zone Map only factors the average yearly minima which makes zone designations much less useful. Zone 7 in the US is highly variable.

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bananarama2

Aaaaargh! That's the whole point...there are many other factors to consider, along with stated zone. The geographers can only generalize, based on broad averages of an area. Based on local conditions, I am actually in a higher zone than friends only 20 miles away! It gets only more complicated when growers and retailers state zones, because, again, it's only a generalization, "your mileage may vary" depending on other factors. This is not intended to be a debate, just sharing information and alternatives.

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Kevin

That must be very confusing when trying to find plants that are hardy for you.

bananarama2

Actually, no, since I'm basically at the highest of the Canadian zones, so get to grow a lot of plants others can only dream of growing. What is hard is choosing what to select from the wide range of possibilities!

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Kevin

bananarama2: I was typing while you were posting - this was intended for turtile, who is in the U.S. I like the Canadian system, but it is hard to be accurate. For you, living in a highly variable lanscape, yes, there will be many micro-climates and different zones all around you. Here, there are not. If a plant is tagged as a zone 4, I know for sure that I need to take extra care for it. If it is zone 3, it should be rock-solid hardy. No questions.

bananarama2

Absolutely! I used to live in Calgary, which is one of the most difficult places anywhere to grow things due to the extremes of climate, even on the same day. So, I can appreciate what you contend with in Winnipeg. The only benefit may be your winter snow cover, which is an excellent 'mulch'. Because of snow cover and more consistent moisture, Red Deer, which is north of Calgary, actually has a milder (?) climate than Calgary, and they can generally grow a wider variety of plants there (Edmonton too, in some instances). We make the best of what we have, always pushing the envelope when possible. Now go mulch your basjoos! lol

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psa

I'm squarely in zone 7, and unless it's planted next to the foundation, I've lost every banana, basjoo and lasiocarpa, that I've placed in the ground and not mulched, even after a full season's growth to get established. At least some mulching is required here, or it's a roll of the dice to see what will survive. Sometimes they survive unprotected, but often not.

I really think zone doesn't come close to telling the whole story. We often go from lows in the mid 40s in October to hard frost and lows in the teens for a week, so the plants don't have enough time to go dormant. Then, in January we might have a couple weeks of highs up to 70F before freezing hard again. It plays havoc on the fragile dormancy of subtropicals.

I will try planting deeper next spring, as suggested on other threads here, to see if that will insulate the corm from such swings. Too late for this year, I think, since they won't really have time to get established.

sandy0225

Ok... I'm officially almost sorry I asked now..... I was just wondering this hardiness question because since I can get basjoo to survive by planting them deeper in zone 5 (and they seem to be hardy to zone 7 with no protection most times planted normally) maybe I can get canna to survive by planting it deeper too. Since I've done this already, all I have to do is wait and see. Thanks for all the input everyone!!!

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!

saltydad

Sandy, now to have brugs and other slightly higher zone plants survive even with mulch will be a great day here in zone 7a!

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sandy0225

hey, there is a customer of mine that planted inca sun brugmansia out with her bananas (basjoo), she didn't dig it up in the winter but since it was with the bananas, she cut it down and put the piles of bags of leaves on it too and it came back. so maybe you could try that. It's not tall like if you bring it in, but it did come back from the roots.

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Sandy Burrell



Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com


specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
check out our new online store at our website!