What the Hell Happened to Our Hardiness Zones?

The Minneapolis Star Tribune published this report from the AP on revised USDA hardiness zones, highlighting the fact that you can now apparently grow figs in Boston.  Interestingly, the report I heard on my local NPR station this morning claimed that there wasn't enough data to attribute the changes to global warming, which is, apparently, the line the USDA is taking as well.  This article clearly attributes the change to global warming:

"The 1990 map was based on temperatures from 1974 to 1986, the new map from 1976 to 2005. The nation's average temperature from 1976 to 2005 was two-thirds of a degree higher than it was during the old time period, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

USDA spokeswoman Kim Kaplan, who was part of the map team, repeatedly tried to distance the new zones on the map from global warming. She said that while much of the country is in warmer zones, the map "is simply not a good instrument" to demonstrate climate change because it is based on just the coldest days of the year.

David W. Wolfe, a professor of plant and soil ecology at Cornell University, said that the USDA is being too cautious and that the map plainly reflects warming."

I suppose the USDA is trying to stay out of politics, but it seems a bit disingenuous to me.  Here's the new, interactive map.  It looks like I'm still 5a, so no figs for me--at least, not yet.  Ten, twenty years from now--who knows?

Experiments in Online Plant Shopping

Earlier this week I had a long chat with a friend about buying plants--she just moved into a new house and will be starting to put her stamp on the yard in the spring, hopefully with lots of berry bushes.  She had been seduced by the ridiculously low prices at the Michigan Bulb Company, but I sent her to Dave's Garden, a fabulous resource for all kinds of gardening information (though I do wish they were more consistent with their apostrophes).  The Garden Watchdog is not kind to the Michigan Bulb Company (located-- who knew?--in Indiana). 

In spite of all the warnings, my friend is still tempted by the insane prices, and now I'm sort of tempted too.  I'm going to do an experiment and order the same 10 items from the Michigan Bulb Company and a company with a better reputation, and see what happens.  

The best place to buy plants, however, is nearly always a local garden center, staffed by people who garden in your area and really understand what works where you live.  I often regret the "deals" I get at Home Despot, because the plants are grown quickly far south of where I live and are not really well adapted to Wisconsin winters, no matter what their supposed zone tolerance is.

Why Don't I Have One of These?

We stopped in Deforest for a post-ski lunch and saw this masterpiece across the way at a cheese and tchotchkes store--I'm not sure I can live without an RV-sized cow in the front yard for much longer (and, fortuitously, my fortieth birthday is a mere 32 months away!).  On the side of a frontage road off a major highway this fiberglass object d'art is pretty impressive, but it would pack a much larger punch in my little residential neighborhood.  I really think I must have it.

More Garden Envy with Bonus Potting Soil Update

My brother-in-law in Ahmednagar, India used loads of potted plants to create a sort of a screen on his veranda--I love how it looks, and I want to do the same thing outside of my screened porch this summer.  I'm going to put up a bunch of hooks and plant lots of trailing vines and flowers to make it feel open but like we're surrounded with green, and also give us a bit more privacy.  I'm also wondering if I can channel the 70s and learn how to macrame hanging pot holders for my regular indoor plants, so I don't have to buy too many annuals.

As a side note, all of these pots, which seems to be growing beautifully, are planted with regular garden soil, not potting soil.

Blog Update

Blogging stalled out completely during the end of semester crush of grading that always happens.  Then there was all the Christmas shit that has to be dealt with, and the day after Christmas I got on a plane and came to India.  Blogging will recommence when I get back in a few days and recover from the jet lag, I swear!  I've got some awesome pictures of gardens in India that I can't wait to write about.

What the Hell Happened to My Basil?

One member of my household, who shall remain nameless, is a pesto nazi--nothing but fresh and homemade will do, and if we don't have it at least three times a month he feels hideously neglected.  In the winter, our basil bills add up, so I came up with the brilliant plan of getting a light shelf and keeping my plants going indoors.  From a distance it looks maybe ok, but up close you can see it's a total disaster.

In an effort to maximize my success, I brought one healthy (or seemingly healthy) plant indoors in early fall, took cuttings from two other healthy-seeming plants, and sowed some seeds.

I'm getting nowhere.  It's partly my fault.  My seeds sprouted, but I got busy at work and they dried up, no doubt screaming in pain.  My cuttings are just languishing, and my formerly healthy plant is has about three green leaves at any given time.

I think it may have something to do with the temperature indoors, which peaks at 67, and goes down to 57 at night.  I put a heat mat under my plants but I don't think it provides enough warmth.  I may have to try putting some plastic around my shelves, to try to create a slightly warmer microclimate that suits basil a bit better.

Garden Envy

We went to visit friends in Milwaukee and I was really impressed with this espaliered persimmon tree.  It's a beautiful addition to a garage wall, and might even produce something edible one day.  Like all other gardeners, L. couldn't accept a compliment, and told us all about crappy this is, since it was her first attempt to espalier something.  Apparently, if you use the candelabra shape you shouldn't have a thick central leader, and there are a few bumps where she left the pruning a bit too late.  However, since I'm not a card-carrying member of the espalier-nazis, a notorious organization whose mission is to provide devastating critiques of innocent gardeners' attempts to train trees into attractive and space-saving shapes, I thought it looked very nice.  I'm tempted to try this on the shittiest part of my yard, although I'm not sure it gets enough sun for a fruit tree.

I'm also really jealous of L.'s bamboo.

I want to get one, but bamboo plants are pretty expensive and I'm afraid it will die.  Milwaukee is just a bit more temperate than Madison.  There are a few varieties that supposedly will survive our winters, such as Rubro and Nuda, but I have my doubts (some sellers list them for zone 6, making me skeptical of other sellers who optimistically claim they'll make it in zone 5).  Rubro and Nuda are also spreading rather than clumping--my preference is for a clumping bamboo.  I really hate to plant anything that can be described as an aggressive spreader.  That so often ends in disaster.

So, to recap, I can't plant bamboo because I'm afraid it will either take over my block or freeze to death.