Good day, gardeners, and for those of you in the United States, a late Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and well. Here’s some knowledge and inspiration I wanted to share with you.
This week, I share some inspiration from a recent visit to Chanticleer in November. Even when the garden is closed, there’s still nuggets to glean.
The USDA released a new hardiness zone map! Many areas have seen a half-zone shift. While Nacogdoches where I live stayed 8b (even though we went from a northern 8b to a southern 8b), my homeplace in Tennessee shifted from 7a to 7b. This NPR post has the best visualization to see the change from the 2012 map to the 2023 map. Just keep in mind that these maps are based on the average lowest temperature a region saw from 1991 to 2020, not the coldest temperature recorded like when we hit -6°F two years ago during Winter Storm Uri when 8b was more like 6a for 8 hours!
Black-stemmed bamboo is currently flowering at Duke Gardens. On average, Phyllostachys nigra ‘Bori’ bloom every 120 years or so; therefore, for many it is a once in a lifetime experience.
This week at Ephemera Farm, my Thanksgiving snowdrops are blooming. Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus have returned in better numbers than last year and seem to be increasing in number. I have such fond memories of seeing them en masse at Montrose in North Carolina.
As always, thanks for welcoming me into your inbox each week to share what I’m learning about plants.
Cheers, and keep growing!
Dr. Jared