20 Sep 2007 - My name
is Cheryl Aldrich and I am 46 years old.
I hold a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture
from Michigan State University where I grew
up, but have been living in Atlanta, Georgia
for the past 25 years. I have been in the
horticultural industry ever since I moved
here in the 1980’s. Though climate change
hasn’t been totally detrimental to the business
I am involved with, I have definitely noticed
some big changes in the winter temperatures
and the plant life we can now grow here.
Observations - Oleanders in Atlanta
One of the main things I have noticed over
the past several years is what a lot of
people around the world are noticing as
well—winters are much milder here in Atlanta.
I remember the winters here in the 80’s
when temperatures would occasionally dip
below zero degrees (F). One winter it was
7 degrees below zero. But in the last 15
years, there has not been a really cold
winter. I have not seen temperatures in
the single digits in a long time.
There are natural drought cycles here and
we are currently in one, though it started
early this year. Late winter and early spring
are usually associated with a fair amount
of rain, but we did not get much of the
early rain that we should have gotten. Because
this past winter was dry, many people lost
a lot of plants because they are not used
to watering in the winter time.
Some of the changes I’ve noticed are related
to the more tender plants that are now over
wintering here. Some of these (ones we used
to consider risky to plant, such as gardenias,
jasmine, and angel trumpet) have been coming
back every year and are doing quite well.
These species used to be considered marginal
and not likely to survive the cold winter
temperatures. Who would have guessed that
even oleander would make it through the
winter now? We’ve had one at the nursery
which has over wintered for 5 years in a
row.
Long drought impacting the dogwood
Overall, there is probably an increase
in the number and variety of plants that
we can grow here, so the effects of climate
change are not necessarily all negative
from a gardener’s perspective. With the
drought, however, people are more concerned
now about purchasing drought tolerant plants,
because don’t want plants that have to be
watered all the time. During the summer
drought period plant sales slow considerably,
but we have actually had an increase in
our landscaping/ installation business.
The Atlanta Dogwood Festival has been in
existence for 70 years—it’s a huge deal
here. For decades the city had a program
of planting dogwoods all throughout the
city. The sad thing is that, not only are
a lot of the dogwoods doing quite poorly
now, the annual festival is no longer in
time with the blooming of the trees. By
the beginning of April, which is when the
festival takes place, most of the dogwoods
are done blooming. These emblematic and
beautiful trees have been ailing for the
last 15 years, mostly due to the drought.
An increase in air pollution is also a factor.
People are aware of climate change here
and I think that they are starting to get
more tuned into this. The fact that we can
grow oleander year round now and that we’ve
changed from a zone 7 designation to zone
8 (United States Department of Agriculture
plant hardiness zone based in annual temperatures)
has forced people to connect the dots.
Even though it has not negatively affected
me personally, I believe that climate change
is a very serious problem. If it keeps on
going like it is, I think it will begin
to impact this industry more and more. We
all have a responsibility to do something
about it.
Scientific background
The National Arborday Foundation published
a new plant hardiness map in 2006. The new
map reflects increasing mean winter low
temperatures and effectively changed the
plant hardiness zones for many portions
of the United States. The Atlanta, Georgia
region moved up from a zone 7 to a zone
8. The National Arborday Foundation map
is based on the most recent 15 years' data
available from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's 5,000 National
Climatic Data Center cooperative stations
across the United States.
More information: www.arborday.org/media/zonechanges2006.cfm
