Well let us begin by explaining the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map. You will have to understand the map before you will know if a plant is tropical or not. The USDA has put together a map that breaks up North America into 11 different temperature zones. Minneapolis, Minnesota is zone four, while Miami, Florida is zone 10. We will go into to further detail on this map at a later date.

The importance of knowing this map, is each plant has a certain cold temperature that it can withstand. When purchasing a plant, you must understand its cold hardiness. If a plant can withstand minimum temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, than it is not a good idea to plant them outside in Tennessee. Most plant tags will have the ‘zone hardiness’ for the plant. It is usually a range…like zone 6-9, or 4-7. Again, this means that this plant will withstand cold temperatures down to the lowest zone. It can also be affected by the high temperature. Florida is too hot for some plants to grow. Many deciduous plants (the ones that drop their leaves) will not survive in Florida because they do not have a ‘cold’ period for the plant to go dormant. On the other hand, palm trees will not survive in Tennessee because we have a ‘cold’ period. Make sense?

So what do you do with a tropical plant if you live anywhere north of Florida? Plan a spot on the inside of the house to store it all winter long! Make sure you learn what zone you are in, and plan your landscape accordingly. I live in Nashville, Tn and we can grow tropical plants all summer with great success, but come October, they will kick the bucket. Knowing this is very important to the pocket book and the ultimate look of the landscape. Here is a short list of the different Cold Hardiness Zones

USDA Hardiness Zones and Average Annual Minimum Temperature Range

So What is a Tropical Plant?  A Tropical Plant is any plant that will not survive your cold hardiness zone.  Each plant is different for each zone in the country.

Happy Tropicals

Something that happens to all of at some point in our lives if we ever try to garden is, we put out our tomato plants, and then get some extra cold weather. The northern states I would say experience this more than the mid to lower states because their growing season is so much shorter and they try to gain as much time as possible for getting tomatoes.

Here in the ‘south’, about the worst thing that can happen is we get a night or two of 32 degree weather which can either completely kill or severely damage the plant. In this case, usually a sheet or even newspaper is sufficient for protection from the frost droplets that damage the leaves. This usually will not happen if you plant anytime after tax day, April 15th.

I had an ‘Ask The Pigg’ Question from Mary in Colorado, and she was asking how to protect her tomato plants because they are in a severe cold snap. My suggestion to her is, to get some bamboo or flexible poles and arch them over the plants and get some clear plastic to cover the poles. Yes, it is a small, inexpensive greenhouse. When you have enough plants, this is a great way to even add some days and weeks onto the growing season for your tomato plants. Just watch the daytime heating and air them out if necessary.

I also recommend some organic Tomato Tone from Espoma to help generate some good healthy plants as they get started. Just sprinkle on the soil and water it in.

I have not experienced anything in between these two extremes. If anyone can add some suggestions in there, we all want to learn what they are.

Happy Tomatoes

We have previously talked about how to get started with a landscape design and talked about all the questions that you must answer before you even begin designing. We outlined all the questions quickly in the blog entitled "Where to begin when beginning a landscape design." Now we are getting into breaking down those questions one by one. The first one was ‘Evaluate your Likes and Dislikes’, the second was ‘Evaluate your Purpose’. Now, let’s move on to ‘Evaluate your Timeline.’

What do I mean by Evaluate your Timeline? There are several factors that can play into the design of your new landscape. Your timeline can be if you are planning for a party in the near future. This can determine how big of plants you will need, what kind of color you are wanting, timing the plants that will be blooming certain times of the year. This can go for if you are planning an outdoor wedding at your home. Same thing, what are you looking for and when are you looking for it inside the landscape.

Some other factors that play into your timeline are…Is this your permanent home? Or are you planning on selling and moving any time soon? You will plan your design differently if you are planning to stay in the home through retirement, than if you are designing for resale. Again, this can determine the size plants you install, what color, and how many. If you are selling in early spring, you have to plan and start in the fall. If you are selling in the fall, you have to start and plan in the spring. If you aren’t selling for 5 years, than you have time to plan accordingly.

Evaluating your timeline can be a huge money saver if planned accordingly. It doesn’t take much to do it right, so think ahead at what it is you have planned in the future.

Happy Planning.

If it is late spring and your Magnolia Tree is losing leaves, don’t worry too much. Magnolia trees, because they are evergreen, have to have a time that they rejuvenate themselves. They do this in the spring as it starts putting off new growth.

The tree focuses on making new branches and leaves and says to itself, "I can’t handle all these old leaves that aren’t seeing sunlight and feeding me," so it releases all of its interior leaves that are not doing anything for it. The tree then produces new growth, and get ready for the beautiful blooms that are about to come.

Enjoy the Blooms