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PaulNS has contributed to 3 posts out of 2610 total posts
(0.11%) in 1,125 days (0.00 posts per day).
20 Most recent posts:
Palm tree growing tips- How to grow plam trees. »
Palms for Zone 5 Nov 9, 2005 03:33 PM
(Total replies: 58)
GioGio, Toronto is listed as 6a on the Canadian map, yes. So is Kingston Ontario. Kingston will see an average low in the zone 5b range on the USDA map. So Kingston is 5b. Toronto: The airport sees temperatures that average to 5b as well. Toronto Island has temps that are increasingly in the zone 6 range ( I would guess soon that with global warming, increased pollution, heat island) it will be solidly 6b. Toronto city should be fine with zone 6 plants. I know of people who have been sucessful with basjoo, So. mag. etc... It's a very good climate for Canada. Just shy of Niagara, but warming more quickly! Don't be bound to the zones, but know what they mean, and how the Canadain version of the climate zone map is inaccurate and confusing. Most zone 6 plants will be fine for you. And no one ever said not to try some different stuff, by all means please do! It's just that one of the keys to pushing the zones is understanding your own climate. For this reason I'm gona reccomend Dr. Francko's book, "Palms won't grow here and other myths". It details what some of us already knew, and what we can expect. Importantly, his experiments are in a climate that is similar to both Halifax and Toronto (more similar to Toronto with the extreme cold events he has to deal with!). Anyway, You can grow zone 5 plants yes, but try different stuff. You'll never know what will work until you try. Hope this helps. Paul
Palm tree growing tips- How to grow plam trees. »
Palms for Zone 5 Nov 8, 2005 09:52 AM
(Total replies: 58)
GioGio, I bought the brevifolia as seed from a popular online retailer. I don't know if you can get potted ones in Canada. I've kept it dry, bone dry. But given no protection from cold (no mulch, or anything else.) The pretection is a clear plastic roof that slightly warms the temps during the day (I would guess) but does nothing at night. Hence the -32c it had to dal with. Yucca elata can take similar cold and I will be trying Yucca thompsonia (Variety of Rostrata) seed soon as I've heard it will be hardy too! Just because we're colder then the Swest of Ontario, does't mean we can't grow cool stuff! Musa Ottawa, The Canadian zones take more then just winter minimum temperature into account. They are inaccurate and so I don't use them. Though I know a number of people do. You don't have to be super intelligent to know that if English holly won't survive it's not a zone 6 (5b)! I tried Ilex aquil. when I saw that the Canadain zone map listed Sydenham as 5b. Then we got -32 (followed by -28c the next winter) which toasted so much stuff (holly, Yucca filamentosa exposed leaves, Giant sequoia (zone 6 plant) etc). I concluded that because of the possible cold outbreaks Sydenham was best rated 5a/4b as on the USDA map. The same map shows Ottawa as 4a/b, but the heat island make it more like zone 5. Cheers, Paul
Palm tree growing tips- How to grow plam trees. »
Palms for Zone 5 Nov 3, 2005 09:33 AM
(Total replies: 58)
Hi all! I have a few years experience growing cold hardy 'out of zone' plants in Southern Ontario (Kingston). I know people who have overwintered different palms, bananas (not just the common basjoo) and other interesting things even in zone 4 Ottawa (USDA, NOT Canadian). It's a learning curve when growing this stuff, and it's not something that is as easily accomplished as we like to think. I've lost many a basjoo in my day, as well as many yuccas, palms etc. all because I was too ambitious to realize the protection they would need. For instance, R. hystrix may be able to survive in a USDA zone 6 without any more protection then a thick mulch layer. Okay, I lost one in a zone 5a (Kingston) by trying the same thing. It needed more protection in my colder climate. I've lost basjoo to -32c (2 years ago). I piled a mulch layer only 1 foot thick on top of the culm. oops, should have know that frost would run 2 1/2 feet deep that year. Anyway, a simple an effective way to ovwer winter this banana outside zone 7 (it's perhaps a zone 7/8 plant but can survive into zone 4 if properly sited and very well mulched, as canna), all you have to do is first mulch it with a layer perhaps a foot deep of standard mulch. I treat with fungicide first but... then pile bags of leaves on top, perhaps 2 deep. You know the orange ones, the bags keep the leaves from getting water logged and ultimately killing the plants. Anyway, experiment away, I don't want to discourage people from trying things but I want people to realize that growing plants out of zone is not the same as growing rhododendrons or roses, it takes work and time to get it right. When you do get it right you can overwinter some amazing stuff. For example I've got a Yucca brevifolia through 2 winters (-32, -28c) without cold protection (I did keep it dry) same for Agave utahensis, Yucca elata, Yucca baccata, etc... |
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