winter hardiness

Tony Avent tony@plantdelights.com
Sun, 27 Jun 2004 09:00:14 PDT
Jim:

	Great essay on provenance.  Just a couple of things to add if I might.
Provenence isn't always what it seems.  Most plants in the Florida
Panhandle have hardiness to at least zone 6 and some further north.
Originally, many of these plants resided in the Ohio or Delaware Valleys
and were relocated during the last ice age.  They never bothered to loose
their winter hardiness.  

	Additionally, we are already growing one Hawaiian endemic, Lepechinia
hastata, which has no problem handling 0 degrees F.  Obviously, since
Hawaii was a volcano, all plants came originally from somewhere else.  This
plant probably originated from a nearby high mountian, arrived in the
tropical paradise and speciated, but never lost it's winter hardiness.
Pushing the envelope is a wonderful learning experience.

Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, NC  27603  USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony@plantdelights.com
website  http://www.plantdel.com/
phone 919 772-4794
fax  919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least
three times" - Avent


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