Cold Climate Zone Pushing/Zone shifting

[RobustaEnvirons]

Here in my home town (Toledo Ohio/USDA Zone 6b) I took a walk around a botanical garden we have here. The place is called the "Toledo Botanical Garden", and is host to over at least a 1,000 different plant and tree species. They have an on-site greenhouse with very knowledgeable experts, and the whole place is southern-oriented. 

I noticed they have tropical, subtropical, and other kinds of specimens growing there. I was surprised to find them there since they don't seem as if they could survive here. I saw what looks like one rather large potted Sago, and many I don't know what kind they are. The large Sago has such as large pot, I couldn't imagine how they move it for the season. I guess they'd have to use a forklift or something! 

I did notice that many (or most) all were potted though, and I observed one had a tag that showed it was brought in from Kentucky. Because they were in the ground (potted) I didn't notice any container since the dirt covers the container's rim pretty well. So, I suppose that explains some of the story. 

With the kind of winter season we had last winter, I could see this zone being much higher than 6b. Now, as to what it could be like this coming winter season, I don't know. With el-nino gone I would imagine it'll be much colder like a normal winter. At the same time our average winter temps have been going up over the last 10-15 years (probably due to Global Warming), we don't really get any snowfall like we used to, and winters are more (have been) more mild even before el-nino last winter.  

In the gardens I observed many that seem to be some kind of Banana tree or something. They even have a nice garden patch (with lettuce, and other garden vegetables) that have a whole lot of Cactus growing in the ground! How is that possible to grow Cactus in the ground in zone 6B! I didn't appear to be potted, they seemed to be growing from the ground. There were many Cactus at that. There's a vine there also that seems to be producing some kind of green grapes in a bunch. I wonder if they think they can grow these here with the changing climates/weather.   

Interesting stuff. Its just interesting to me though, that the gardens would go through the effort to put these in. I enjoyed the beauty of these, and seeing exotic specimens (exotic for these regions) here in Toledo Ohio. 

Edited July 12, 2016 by RobustaEnvirons

[RobustaEnvirons]

[RobustaEnvirons]

[RobustaEnvirons]

[Pando]

Thanks for posting them Richard. Looks like all of them are pot-planted, and they'll bring them indoors before winter. I'll be they love the humidity outdoors there in summer.

[RobustaEnvirons]

5 minutes ago, Pando said:

Thanks for posting them Richard. Looks like all of them are pot-planted, and they'll bring them indoors before winter. I'll be they love the humidity outdoors there in summer.

No problem! I'm sure they do love the humidity outdoors here, it's been decent this Spring/Summer so far. Very humid. 

I personally didn't see that the Cactus were potted though, of course I didn't stop to push away the dirt either. I couldn't imagine that a cactus could survive zone 6b winters though, lol.

Nonetheless, I think it's awesome that they go out of there way to bring these outdoors to enjoy for April-September. 

[RobustaEnvirons]

Is the third photo a large Bird of Paradise?

[NorCalKing]

Yes, that's a large/giant bird of paradise. I have them in the ground here in zone 9B and it normally gets frost damage in our winter. Trust me, it would not last a week in the ground in 6B. None the less, a very nice collection. The banana's are are Musa basjoo and will indeed survive zone 6B. They will get killed to the ground but will regrow every spring. I also notice elephant ear, as well as split leaf philodren they are tropical as well and would not make it through even the mildest winter.

[PalmatierMeg]

Many cacti can't survive a 6b climate but some come from very cold areas, i.e., the Rocky Mountains. When I visited my son in Colorado Springs (6500' elevation) I saw several species of small cacti growing in a neighborhood park. They were wild, not man introduced. That area gets well below 0F sometimes and is seldom very warm even in summer (my son joked that his summers lasted one week in July). The belief that all cacti live in hot deserts is a myth. Even deserts can get bitterly cold at night. Florida has 9 species of Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) and Opuntias occur all the way up to Alberta, Canada. Alberta makes Ohio seem tropical.

[RobustaEnvirons]

10 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Many cacti can't survive a 6b climate but some come from very cold areas, i.e., the Rocky Mountains. When I visited my son in Colorado Springs (6500' elevation) I saw several species of small cacti growing in a neighborhood park. They were wild, not man introduced. That area gets well below 0F sometimes and is seldom very warm even in summer (my son joked that his summers lasted one week in July). The belief that all cacti live in hot deserts is a myth. Even deserts can get bitterly cold at night. Florida has 9 species of Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) and Opuntias occur all the way up to Alberta, Canada. Alberta makes Ohio seem tropical.

I see, I didn't know that. I can't believe that there are Cactus that can live in cold zones, let alone my zone 6B. I guess I always believed in the myth that all Cactus are from the dessert. Florida being Subtropical (and Tropical down in Miami), I wouldn't have guessed that they could grow there let alone have 9 native species. Wow! 

But, yes indeed I'd imagine Alberta Canada would make Ohio seem tropical, lol. I once spoke with a couple that had traveled down from Montreal. It was early March/late February and its was in the 40s here in Toledo Ohio, but 5F-10F degrees there in Montreal. They said it felt down right tropical when they got down here! I had a good laugh at that but I guess compared to what they were used to; it very well could feel that way.  

[PalmatierMeg]

My other son had a client in Alberta, Canada and used to travel there regularly. He said the climate was stark and brutal.

[RobustaEnvirons]

While I was there I took the time to write up a short memo. In this memo I suggested that they try to plant (in the ground) a Needle palm - Rhapidophyllum. I explained that it could handle our zone 6B climate and it would be a true palm tree that they could grow year-round with no artificial aid from a greenhouse. They'd just have to plant a specimen in the Spring (after the last frost) and by the beginning of fall it would be established and ready to take on winter. 

I spoke with one of the garden's staff members (unfortunately not someone who could make that call), and they basically new about various types of palms (although they hadn't heard of Needle palm). They said the gardens were reluctant to try to grow any palms in the ground there, due to the efforts of protecting them every year. They said its not worth the manpower or expense. They hadn't really heard of or known of Needle palm, so its my hope that there stance changes on this in the future.  

I personally don't agree with them, but whatever I guess. I submitted my letter to the lead naturalist with much supplied information, and so I guess we'll see what happens. It'd be nice to see a Needle palm there, since it's really the only palm that could ever be tough enough to grow unprotected here in zone 6B.

Its nice to see so many warm-weather species there, but it'd be nicer to have a Needle palm, Trachycarpus Fortunei, Trachycarpus Wagnerianus, and Washingtonia Robusta in the ground (even if they would have to provide some light protection). I read that one Trachy was able to take temperatures down to -19F and made a full recovery at that! We never reach below -10F here in Toledo Ohio honestly. I do realize that for the Washy they'd have to provide quite a bit of protection and eventually it'd get too tall for them to protect anyway, but still it'd be nice for a while.  

I personally don't think they'd have to do anything for a Needle palm, they're the hardiest of all palm species!

Edited July 15, 2016 by RobustaEnvirons