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1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 12:23 am
by Roy
New changes coming to the USDA Hardiness Zone Map? This site shows you the changes are forthcoming to the USDA Hardiness Zone Map; perhaps:

http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm

Play will change the map from the 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org hardiness zones.

Reset will change the map to show the 1990 USDA hardiness zones.

Differences shows colors that represent how much each zone has changed since 1990. For example, the pink areas of the map have warmed up enough to change one hardiness zone (e.g. the top half of Nebraska has increased by one zone).

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:21 am
by Brian_K
Anyone know why they got rid of the partial zone designations? For instance, I have been around the 5b/6a border on previous maps. But now it just says 6. So which is it, 6a or 6b? If its 6a then its not much of a change. If its 6b I'll be happy.

Re: RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org z

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:12 am
by Roy
Brian_K wrote:Anyone know why they got rid of the partial zone designations? For instance, I have been around the 5b/6a border on previous maps. But now it just says 6. So which is it, 6a or 6b? If its 6a then its not much of a change. If its 6b I'll be happy.
Brian,

There was a big article in my newspaper about the new 2006 Arborday.org's new hardiness zone map and the paper felt that the USDA would follow the lead of Arbor.org and update their map. The current USDA map is based upon data from 1977 to 1987. A lot of very unusual cold Winters happened in Florida during that period of time. The 2006 Arborday.org map covers a 30 year time frame, but the paper didn't mention what years Arborday.org is using. I think the "a" and "b" zones come from the USDA in an attempt be more precise. I'm sure others on the forum know a lot more about the hardiness zone maps than I do.

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:36 am
by bambooweb
Now we have a choice of three zone maps :?
The 2006 Arborday.org map,
The 2003 American Horticultural Society Map: http://www.ahs.org/pdfs/USDA_Map_3.03.pdf (Warning Large File 5.6 meg)
or the 1990 USDA map.

The current AHS page says the USDA is coming out with a new map. http://www.ahs.org/publications/usda_ha ... ne_map.htm

From what was printed when the AHS map came out the USDA had just paid to put their 1990 map to the internet so they did not want to change the zone map.

One interesting thing is that the newer maps put Eastern Washington back to the zones we were in on the 1960 USDA map.

Bill

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 5:37 pm
by Iowaboo
I don't think highly of growing zones. They are highly for the general public. I grow the plant in which I highly want, and than am able to highly determine its cold tolerance.

Re: RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org z

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 5:52 pm
by Roy
Iowaboo wrote:I don't think highly of growing zones. They are highly for the general public. I grow the plant in which I highly want, and than am able to highly determine its cold tolerance.
Yes, it is good for the general public. I see some of the large retail chains selling plants that I know will not tolerate the temperatures in the area. With some temp sensitive tropical bamboos, one can grow them for 3 or 4 years before a cold overnight blast kills the tops to the ground. For some tropical bamboos, then that would be cutting out a clump of dead 50 feet tree-like culms. The general public needs to be aware of that and select their bamboo accordingly.

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:44 pm
by Bamboo Conne'isseur
According to that new map, I borderline in being 9b and zone 10. After this winter I might begin to believe that. If it gets any warmer, I might give a Guadua a try.

Re: RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org z

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 11:21 pm
by Roy
Bamboo Conne'isseur wrote:According to that new map, I borderline in being 9b and zone 10. After this winter I might begin to believe that. If it gets any warmer, I might give a Guadua a try.

If you are going to try the exotic Guadua, then perhaps you might want to try this beauty:

Guadua aureocaulis

<img src="http://www.bambooweb.info/images/bamboo ... oot_sm.jpg" alt="Guadua aureocaulis ">

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:08 am
by Bamboo Conne'isseur
Nice looking shoots. Thats the one with nice variegated leaves if I am not mistaken, which would be a great choice; that and maybe Guadua angustifolia.

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:47 pm
by boonut
Folks in Florida might have better success with Guaduas than me. I have had Guadua Angustifolia in the ground for about 3 years now. It really needs more rain than what we get. I have some B. Ventricosa that should size up this year to give it more winter protection. It looks "ok", but not like the pics I have seen. Perhaps more time will help... or I will figure out their secret to Great growth.

That is my G. Aureocaulis in Roy's post. The leaves are variegated. They lose the variegation a bit as they get older. The new shoots are really pretty. I have two in 38 gallon pots. Both are doing very well. These are growing exceptionally well in pots... we will see how they do in the ground this spring.

If I don't find the secret to Guaduas in the next few years, I may toss in the towel on those. They just don't have the vigor and great look of my other bamboos.

BTW, here is what I did with my first Guadua Angustifolia to give it the best chance of survival and growth:

Dug up a 15' x 15' square area down to 2 feet and mixed lots of Cypress Mulch and Gypsum to break down the clay. I used Soil Sulfur to further reduce the alkalinity. I planted one in the middle of this area and then added 4 inches of Cypress mulch on top of that to help retain water. I then planted 5 palms just north of the area and then a row of Bambusa Ventricosa to the north of that for added protection from the north winds.

So far, about 1.5" culms.

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:50 pm
by boonut
BTW, look out for the straight dagger like thorns on the Guaduas. The thorns on the B. Bambos are smaller and hooked... both are bad if you don't keep the branches cut back below 6 feet.

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:49 pm
by Roy
Boonut,

I planted my Guadua Angustifolia in the ground for about 2 Summers. It didn't get a lot of size on it during that time, but I decided I didn't want it in the ground so I dug it out. Boy did I get a lot of scratches and puncture wounds, even knowing that the thorns were needle sharp.

I keep a couple of 3 gallon pots of it and take some divisions off each year. For a bamboo with large size potential, it doesn't really up-size much at all. I've had mine in pots for many years and I've never had to worry about it popping up a large shoot.

RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org zones

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:57 am
by Bamboo Conne'isseur
Maybe this is one of those plants that MUST have bright light, warmth and humidity year round, lots of rain and well drained, rich soil. I guess the Guaduas are the clumping equivalent to moso. Their environment must be perfect to get fast growth, and to get to large sizes. But thats a guess. I love a challenge, so I might give one a shot.
Good luck with those Boonut, Roy.

Re: RE: 1990 USDA hardiness zones to the 2006 Arborday.org z

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:55 pm
by Roy
Bamboo Conne'isseur wrote:Maybe this is one of those plants that MUST have bright light, warmth and humidity year round, lots of rain and well drained, rich soil. I guess the Guaduas are the clumping equivalent to moso. Their environment must be perfect to get fast growth, and to get to large sizes. But thats a guess. I love a challenge, so I might give one a shot.
Good luck with those Boonut, Roy.
The St. Pete Times did and artilce on bamboo, back in 1995, and they had a picture of Dr. Scranton's G. angustifolio growing in his backyard. I found the link to the article, but the image is not with the article. Go to the link for the full text version.

http://tinyurl.com/ycv7xy
Dr. Stephen Scranton of Dunedin started using bamboo seven years ago to control an erosion problem along Curlew Creek, which borders the back of his property. After some research, Scranton discovered bamboo is the No. 1 plant used for erosion control in the world, except in the United States.

Since he installed several large stands of bamboo along the creek, it has slowed the current, refilled shoreline that was lost and even raised the creek bank 6 to 8 feet.

"It is excellent on erosion," Scranton said.

Gigantochloa atroviolacea and Guadua angustifolia are two of the 100 types of bamboo Scranton has growing in his yard. Both are in handsome clusters, one with thick black culms striped in green, the other white-banded. A world of bamboo