ZONE 7
This is a blog especially for those fortunate folks who inhabit Zone 7. After spending 40+ years of my life in Zone 2, where there is an itty bitty growing season, it was a revelation to move all the way down to Zone 7. Imagine, the ground doesn't freeze -all year 'round! There are plants that keep their leaves in the winter -magnolias, privet, Japanese honeysuckle, English ivy. Admittedly, some of those are invasive, but nothing keeps actual leaves in winter in Zone 2. Snow may show up on rare occasions in Zone 7, but never stays. No snow shoveling! No getting stuck in the snow! No waiting for the ground to thaw in spring! Wow!!! But I did have things to learn. For instance, my first year of gardening in Zone 7, I planted sweet potatoes. I had never grown them before. I waited for the frost to kill the plants so I could dig the tubers. That is what we did with white potatoes. Finally, at the end of October, I just dug them up. They were huge, deformed monstrosities. I learned. And I continue to learn each new season. I so enjoy being able to watch the progression of the flowers and flowering trees and shrubs, from the pansies, violets, hellebores, and camellias of mid-winter, thru the daffodils, red buds, Bradford pears (I know-invasive, but so beautiful), forsythia, Carolina jessamine, quince, rhododendrons, azaleas, iris, all the flowering blueberry, peach, apple, plum, elderberry, and on and on thru the lengthy list of summer blooms and into the sunflowers, goldenrod, ironweed, autumn clematis, and mums of fall. And I can grow lettuce, spinach, and other greens all thru fall, winter, and early spring. I could go on rhapsodizing about the plants, but this post would never end. And thus, I stop here for now. Must go out and play in the dirt!