hardiness, cold temperatures

Antennaria@aol.com Antennaria@aol.com
Mon, 27 Dec 2004 19:17:42 PST
Mary Sue Ittner wrote regarding moisture and plant/bulb hardiness:

>I had an offline discussion with someone about 
>this (Mark McDonough possibly?) and he said 
>that was absolutely not true.

I don't think it was me, although I did possibly discuss with you some advice 
I received about guarantying a good bud set and subsequent flowering on 
Magnolias.  The recommendation was to provide copious watering in late summer and 
fall, to ensure the flower buds, which develop in late summer, have a chance to 
fully develop and thus are more able to withstand winter cold and 
dessication. In the case of Magnolias, in my limited experience with a precocious 
flowering hybrid (Forrest's Pink), providing good soaking waterings in late summer 
and fall, has indeed yielded better flowering.

Kenneth Hixson khixson@nu-world.com wrote at length on the nuances of plant 
hardiness.  Thanks Kenneth for explaining this so well.  If you've gardened in 
two or more rather different climates, it's very interesting to see the 
results of comparitive plant hardiness.  The biggest surprise, is finding plants 
that were perfectly hardy in one climate, prove to be a challenge and non-hardy 
in milder climates, but Kenneth gives good examples of why this can be the 
case.  As Kenneth says "Hardiness is a complex subject".

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States 
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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