In article ,
(Rodger Whitlock) writes:
| On Tue, 25 Feb 2003 18:46:43 +0000, Kay Easton
| wrote:
|
| ...[do] US gardeners find the
| system a good indicator of whether a particular plant will survive?
|
| Well this born-and-brought-up-in-the-US Canadian gardener finds
| the zone indications very helpful. One can't take them as gospel,
| of course! But if something is zone 7 or colder, it's pretty sure
| to do okay in my garden, barring moisture-induced rot or some
| other idiosyncracy. Zone 8 is a bit of a gamble -- some Z8 plants
| are fine in my heavyish wet loam, others detest conditions. And
| Z9 or warmer is almost always a waste of time, though a few do
| "not badly".

Which, given that you are probably a nominal 8b or even a 9 if you
are in one of the milder parts, isn't a very different experience
from the one I describe in the FAQ.

| And, yes, I ignore my own rants on the subject and use the zone
| ratings for plants other than woody ones. Do as I say, not as I
| do -- or vice versa, depending on taste.
|
| Bear in mind that conditions here in the PacNW somewhat resemble
| those in Britain, though we have much drier, sunnier summers,
| with correspondingly wetter winters.

Except that Vancouver's humidity is lower than many parts of the
UK! Surprisingly, more rainfall often means lower humidity (by
"clearing the air").

| But zones aren't everything. I've found by sad experience that
| herbaceous material from Japan performs very poorly for me. It
| often rots away during the winter. The same material performs
| very well in the eastern US, a zone or two colder than we are
| here, but with drier winters and hotter, more humid summers.

Quite. That problem is one we know well :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679