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Science

Americans see gardening changes as 'plant hardiness zones' shift across half the U.S.

Here's a quick tool to find out if your zone has changed due to warmer temperatures.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash, Map by USDA-ARS and Oregon State University (Public Domain)

The USDA has issued a new Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Millions of American households have a garden of some sort, whether they grow vegetables, fruits flowers or other plants. Gardening has always been a popular hobby, but more Americans turned to tending plants during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for both stress relief and to grow their own food so they could make less trips to the store. For many people, it's a seasonal ritual that's therapeutic and rewarding.

But a shift is occurring in the gardening world. Now, due to rising temperature data, half the country find themselves in a different "plant hardiness zone"—the zones that indicate what plants work well in an area and when to plant them. Gardeners rely on knowing their hardiness zone to determine what to plant and when, but they haven't been updated since 2012.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its Plant Hardiness Zone Map in late 2023, months before people in most of the country start planning their planting. We saw the 10 hottest summers ever recorded in 174 years of climate data between 2014 and 2023, but hardiness zones are actually determined by the coldest winter temperatures each year. Winters are warming at an even faster pace than summers, according to nonpartisan research and communications group Climate Central, but that may or may not be the entire reason behind the zone changes.

The USDA acknowledges that some of the zone shifts could be due to climate change but cautions against using them as hard evidence for it since factors such as improved data collection also contribute to changes in the map.

Gardening can be a solo or community endeavor.

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

"Temperature updates to plant hardiness zones are not necessarily reflective of global climate change because of the highly variable nature of the extreme minimum temperature of the year, as well as the use of increasingly sophisticated mapping methods and the inclusion of data from more weather stations," the USDA wrote in November 2023. "Consequently, map developers involved in the project cautioned against attributing temperature updates made to some zones as reliable and accurate indicators of global climate change (which is usually based on trends in overall average temperatures recorded over long time periods)."

At the same time, Chris Daly, director of the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University that developed the map with the USDA, told NPR, "Over the long run, we will expect to see a slow shifting northward of zones as climate change takes hold."

As an example of zone shifting, Dallas, Texas, was classified as Zone 8a in 2012, when data showed the coldest winter temperature in the city was between 10 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit on average. In 2023, with data showing the coldest winter temps falling between 15 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit, it's been shifted to Zone 8b.

Some zone shifts resulted in moving to an entirely new zone number, such as Seattle shifting from Zone 8b to Zone 9a. The overall trend was for zones to be pushed northward, but not all areas saw a shift. NPR has a helpful tool here in which you can enter your zip code, see what zone your city was previously in, what zone it's in now, and the temperature changes that caused the shift.

The bottom line is if you have a gardening book with a hardiness zones map printed before 2024, it's time for an updated map. Or check online to see what zone you fall in now to give your garden the best chance of thriving this year.

From Your Site Articles

gardening

Community

Wondering what method keeps your Valentine's flowers lasting longer? One guy tried them all.

Some definitely worked better than others.

Representative image from Canva

Because who doesn't want to preserve the natural beauty of a bouquet for as long as possible?

With Valentine’s having just passed, many of us might be looking at beautiful bouquets bestowed by our sweethearts and wondering how to keep them fresh for as long as possible (the flowers, that is, but maybe your beau as well).

If the thought of experimenting with a ton of home remedies found online sounds exhausting, you’re in luck! Someone decided to test a whole handful of them to see which worked best for perfectly preserved petals.

In a 7-minute clip posted to TikTok, life-hack enthusiast and former circus clown “The Gooch” made his own little science project using multiple roses placed in vases of water, each with a different variable: a blend of sugar and bleach, Red Bull, pennies, popcorn kernels, 7 Up, alkaline batteries, denture tablets, aspirin and, naturally, the florist-provided flower food packet, which itself contains some kind of sugar, citric acid and biocide, such as bleach.

Some of these ingredients, like the sugar bleach, came at the recommendation of The Gooch’s “florist friend.” Others, like the alkaline batteries, were simply pulled from the almighty internet.

The Gooch let the roses sit for 7 days, each flower covered by a cylinder made of colored construction paper, before he gave the big reveal.

The results of the first couple of roses—the ones given Aspirin and 7 Up—wasn’t anything to write home about. In fact, The Gooch remarked that the 7 Up rose looked “sad.”

From there, the experiment had both unexpected losers, like the expert recommended sugar-bleach solution, and some surprising winners, like the denture tab solution which actually proved to be “ pretty amazing.”

One of the biggest surprises of all came from the alkaline batteries, which did keep the rose remarkably fresh, even if it made the water look like it came from a sewer.

In the end, the best result came from tablets, popcorn kernels, batteries, flower food and pennies, with the latter two being the best solutions overall.

@the_gooch Tasting what keeps flowers fresh longer #flowers #experiment #valentines #valentinesday #valentine #roses #fyp #foryou #foryourpage #longervideos #longvideo #longvideos #tipsandtricks ♬ original sound - The Gooch

After The Gooch’s video went viral, amassing nearly 22 million views, others began offering their own flower preserving tips.

“I do flower food, copper pennies (b4 1983) and ice cubes in the water. Replace water weekly. Flowers will last for 3-4 weeks,” one person wrote.

Another added, “when I was in school we were taught to cut our roses under water so that an air bubble isn’t created in the stem.”

Still, one florist noted that the real key is far more simple.

“The most impactful thing is to change the water every day (I’m a florist) — flower food has food (sugar) and a little bleach too to try and minimize bacteria, but clean water is the most helpful!” they wrote.

Adding onto that, the website Green Fresh Florals recommends to continue trimming the bouquets’ stems every few days, removing any leaves that would sit below the water line and not only changing of the water every couple of days, but putting the stems in warm water than slowly transitioning to cool water to prolong vibrancy.

Or you could follow this viewer's advice, who joked, “[The] ultimate trick is to leave them on the rose bushes, it’s hands down the best method.”

From Your Site Articles

human interest

Culture

An entire town lined up to take photos with a rare corpse flower at an abandoned gas station

Rhododendrites/Bg2655, Wikimedia Commons

When you have a flower that only blooms once a decade or so, you probably want to share it with the world when it does.

Nursery owner Solomon Leyva decided to wheel his rare corpse flower out to an abandoned gas station in Alameda, California on May 18 to share the joy—and the stank—of it in bloom. The corpse flower is so named because of its rotting smell when it's in full bloom. (The smell has been described as "worse than a thousand pukes," which may also explain why Leyva brought it out into a wide open space during its flowering phase. Even though it only blooms for a day or two, it's probably not too pleasant to have that smell indoors, even in a greenhouse.)

The first bloom of a corpse flower takes around seven to 10 years. After that, it's anyone's guess how often it will bloom. For some, it's every few years, for others it can be several decades between blooms.

Just that normal thing that happens in Alameda where a guy brings a corpse flower to an old empty gas station and half the city lines up to take a photo with it.pic.twitter.com/7EeaXy8t4K
— Peter Hartlaub (@Peter Hartlaub) 1621303066

Corpse flowers are huge, growing up to 10 feet in height, and most of the time they sit with their "petals" (actually a singular frilly leaf called the spathe) wrapped up around their towering centers (called the spadix). When in bloom, the spadix actually creates heat, and a combination of chemicals put off a mix of smells described as cheesy and garlicky, sweaty feet-ish, and rotting fishy.

In other words, the rare blooming corpse flower is a feast for both the eyes and the nose.

Leyva told the San Francisco Chronicle that he shares his extremely rare plants on Instagram, and when he saw people showing interest in his corpse flower, he decided to bring it out for the public to enjoy.

"I grabbed my wagon, went down to my greenhouse, put it in with the help of a friend of mine, dragged it down here to this abandoned building and people just started showing up," Leyva said.

Leyva sat near the flower in a folding chair and answered people's questions. He didn't set any rules for viewing, but as more and more people arrived, they formed an orderly line on their own, sometimes stretching down the block. By late afternoon, Leyva estimated that at least 1,200 residents had visited the flower.

"Everyone is commenting to me that the last time they've seen this was in San Francisco, and there was a barrier, and they had to wait for hours, and they weren't allowed to get near it," he said. "I think everyone's tripping out that they can walk up and wiggle it and smell it."

See on Instagram

The combination of the bloom being a rare event as well as a putrid curiosity is likely what brought so many people out to an abandoned gas station to see a single flower. But the flood of visitors may also have been because Leyva's instinct to share something special with the public in such an unlikely place, expecting nothing in return, created a sense of community that we've all been craving during the pandemic. No cost, no fuss, no hassle, just "Hey, I've got this big ass flower that only blooms every ten years or so and it's blooming now so come take a look! And by the way, it reeks!" And the people came.

Thank you, Solomon Leyva, for sharing your cool, rank flower and reminding us that sometimes people will do something awesome for people just because it's an awesome thing to do for people.

From Your Site Articles

Husband spends 2 years planting thousands of flowers to bring his blind wife joy.

Youtube

Flowers are a great way to express your feelings for someone. Red roses say, "I love you," but a whole garden of pink flowers screams it. One husband took the romantic gesture of getting your wife flowers to the next level.

Mr. and Mrs. Kuroki got married in 1956, and Mrs. Kuroki joined her husband on his dairy farm in Shintomi, Japan, The Telegraph reports. The couple lived a full life and had two kids. After 30 years of marriage, the couple planned on retiring and traveling around Japan, but those plans were soon dashed.

When she was 52, Mrs. Kuroki lost her vision due to complications from diabetes. Her blindness hit her hard, and she began staying inside all day. Mr. Kuroki knew his wife was depressed and wanted to do something to cheer her up.

Mr. Kuroki noticed some people stopping to admire his small garden of pink shibazakura flowers (also known as moss phlox) and got an idea. He couldn't take his wife to see the world, so he had to make the world come to his wife.

Using the 'dictionary definition of racism' defense is a sure sign you don't understand racism.

Mr. Kuroki decided to plant more of the flowers in his garden, hoping they would attract more visitors and cheer up his wife. He knew she wouldn't be able to see them, but she would be able to smell them, and their pleasant aroma might bring her some joy. Mr. Kuroki spent two years planting thousands of flowers just so he could put a smile on his wife's face.

光失った妻に芝桜を黒木敏幸さんと靖子さん夫妻宮崎www.youtube.com

The plan worked and the stunning garden began drawing visitors to the location. A decade after Mr. Kuroki first planted the garden, the amazing love story behind it has turned the dairy farm in rural Japan into a major tourist attraction.

Men share times when they've stood up to misogynistic behavior.

The garden draws up to 7,000 people a day when the flowers are in bloom in March and April. Their cowshed, which once held 60 cows, has been turned into a display telling their love story. Most importantly, Mrs. Kuroki loves the visitors and can be seen walking around the garden and smiling.

You can visit Mr. and Mrs. Kuroki's flowers with your significant other, but they better be prepared to answer questions as to why they've never done anything like that for you.

From Your Site Articles

What to plant in your garden to attract the prettiest birds.

Certain Disney princesses have a way with birds. Singing to them. Having them land on her finger. But you want to know the secret?

Check out the background.

[rebelmouse-image 19528901 dam="1" original_size="400x282" caption="GIF from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."" expand=1]GIF from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Snow White's secret to getting up close and personal with her winged friends might be the plants around her. Plants, be they bushes, trees, or flowers, provide food and shelter to birds and other critters. Unfortunately, the world today is pretty different from what it was in Snow White's time. A lot of that natural habitat is now gone.

The Audubon Society has a charming, simple-as-heck fix for the problem.

Nestled in their website is a database of birds, plants, and geographic data. Put in your zip code and — voilà! — you'll get a list of beautiful, native, non-invasive plants you can add to your windowsill, rooftop, or garden that will help support local bird populations.

For example, let's say you were in zip code 10001, right in the heart of New York City. Do you have a roof planter? Orioles just love butterfly milkweed.

‌Wow! Photo via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — Midwest/Flickr.‌

Milkweed is easy to grow and attracts butterflies and other insects (which birds like to eat). Orioles use its fibers in their nests. Planting it means more food, shelter, and habitat for all kinds of birds. This kind of support is important because some birds are struggling due to man-made changes like urbanization, habitat loss, and climate change.

"A number of bird species are in trouble," says John Rowden, Audubon's director of community conservation. Luckily, he says, anyone can help out — "even a container on a balcony, patio, or fire escape can help."

Here are more examples of what you can find in the Audubon database to help the birds near you:

A windowsill full of bluebell-of-Scotland will attract hummingbirds, even all the way up in Juneau, Alaska.

Photo by Cerlin Ng/Audubon Society.‌

Alaska too cold for you? Los Angeles hummingbirds would love the flowers of the chalk liveforever succulent.

Chicago suburb? Plant a plum tree; get some lovely little finches.

‌Photo from Homer Edward Price/Flickr.‌

A purple passionflower would look lovely in Austin, Texas, and might attract some cardinals too.

‌A common passionflower in Bermuda. Looks a little freaky, doesn't it? Photo from Captain-tucker/Wikimedia Commons.‌

Want something larger, and a little less flashy, for a garden in Philly? Mockingbirds love to eat American holly berries.

‌Photo from Kehl Mack/Pixabay.‌

Planter box in Seattle? Bright orange honeysuckle flowers could bring in waxwings.

‌Plus, I mean, look at them. Fireworks!‌ Photo from Walter Siegmund/Wikimedia Commons.

This works, even in the desert. Got a little space outside your window in Las Vegas? Golden currant could bring in wrens.

[rebelmouse-image 19528908 dam="1" original_size="750x500" caption="Image from Sten Porse/Wikimedia Commons." expand=1]Image from Sten Porse/Wikimedia Commons.

Anyone can do this, and it really does help. The birds will thank you.

Western tanager and Douglas fir. Photo from Timothy Lenahan/Audubon Photography Awards.

If you're on a budget, many of these plants can be found as cheap seeds too. The Audubon database also points people to their local Audubon chapter, where they can get detailed advice about plant and bird care.

So whether you're looking for a fun summer project to beautify your home, a way to help out native birds, or you just want to up your chances of finally fulfilling your Disney princess dream, head on over to their website and check it out.

From Your Site Articles

Incredible up-close bird photos - Upworthy ›

His must-see 'flower flashes' bring color and whimsy to urban spaces.

Lewis Miller is one of the most sought-after floral designers in the country.

His work is more than bouquets in corner shops or farmers markets; they're lavish works of living art for major events, like fashion shows, galas, and other larger-than-life spectacles.

It was a lush, masculine and magical affair. #ladyslippers and #scabiosa in assorted glass cloches, arching #eucalyptus branches, white #anemones and #smilax on every table. A contrasting mix of order and wild, gorgeous layers of flowers and plant life. #green #white #black #holytrinity #floraldesign #depthanddimension #stylingnature #flowersofinstagram #cipriana25broadway #lewismillerdesign #eventdesign #dinnerfor400
A post shared by Lewis Miller Design (@lewismillerdesign) on Dec 8, 2016 at 3:37pm PST

It's when the champagne runs dry and the elite head for the doors, however, that Miller's creativity really shines.

Miller doesn't just toss the flowers in the trash. He gives many of them a sustainable, loving second life. Using public spaces as a canvas, Miller and his team use leftover flowers to add pops of color all over New York City.

Lewis Miller Design gave this cat sculpture outside the Crosby Street Hotel a mohawk makeover. All photos via Lewis Miller Design, used with permission.

His vision of covering the city in flowers began in October 2016 after decorating the John Lennon Memorial in the Strawberry Fields area of Central Park. He and his team assembled before dawn to arrange fresh blooms around the memorial as a way to share the beauty and magic of his flowers with the people of New York City.

Miller described the inaugural effort on his blog:

"So at 5:45 AM, my team and I filled the LMD van with 2,000 flowers and descended on the John Lennon Memorial in Central Park, a circular mosaic resembling a mandala with one word in the center: IMAGINE."

As the sun came up, Miller feared their efforts would be swept away by the parks department, but thankfully, he wrote, "...[they] gave us their approval and blessing with a quick thumbs up."

Before long, people were taking selfies and photos of the lush design and sharing them on social media.

A phenomenon was born.

Since then, Miller and his team have continued their effort to spread wonder and delight to the people of New York with their "flower flashes."

Using public trash cans as vases, Miller and his team make giant bouquets to perk up New York City street corners.

The flowers and stems burst from the grimy, steel gray wastebins, giving unassuming corners (and last night's bouquets) a fitting encore.

"It's nice to give our clients' flowers a groovy second life," he told Domino.

For the element of surprise, the team installs the delicate bouquets very early in the morning.

Of course, it helps that there's a crew up even earlier than Miller's team.

"We are very thankful," Irini Arakas Greenbaum, Miller's director of special projects says, of the city sanitation department and garbage collectors who "are up even earlier than us and empty the cans before we get to our destination."

Miller adorns public art and sculptures too.

And even does a little blooming typography.

No space is too small or too large for a bloom or two ... thousand.

Due to the impermanent nature of flowers, weather, and human nature, each flower flash lasts less than a few days.

"When we flash a sculpture, the flowers tend to last longer, sometimes even three or four days," Miller told Domino. "With the trash cans, people feel more inclined to take them. It's usually the early morning dog walkers that have the stickiest fingers and take the flowers home with them."

The temporary nature only makes these living works of art even more delightful. They are rare, vibrant, and, thanks to the element of surprise, almost magical. For locals and tourists alike, they are a gift that keeps on giving.

From Your Site Articles

An entire town lined up to take photos with a rare Corpse Flower at an abandoned gas station - Upworthy ›

8 abandoned industrial sites turned into whimsical, haunting, and gorgeous parks.

Hallo. It’s me. Your friendly neighborhood grouch.

It’s springtime, which means the sun is shining, birds are in the air, flowers are blooming ... blech. You know what I want? Pollution! Chemicals! I want to go where the grass is orange and the water green!

Maybe I’ll just trip on down to my favorite industrial site. Seattle's got a nice one full of rusty old towers and old coal grime and beautiful chemical processing machines and ... what is this?

Where did the coal gas plant go? All the equipment's here, but it looks ... clean and beautiful?!

Photo by Mark Doliner/Flickr.

Seattle's Gas Works Park used to make coal gas, but since the 1960s, it's been a delightful public park. The old plant towers like a post-apocalyptic cityscape over grassy hills and the water of Lake Union.

Gas Works is what you could call a "reclaimed park," and a lot of places around the world have jumped on the trend of grabbing old industry or waste sites and turning them into beautiful public spaces.

And I, as a trash-and-grime-loving grouch, could not be more disappointed! I mean, check out these other seven sites people have ruined with their whole "Oh, no, we don't like trash. We like laughing and flowers and babies and laughing-flower-babies" schtick.

Freshkills Park on Staten Island used to be the largest landfill in the country.

Photo from New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Now it's a park filled with osprey nests and kayakers. Kayakers! See what I mean?

Then there's Glass Beach near Fort Bragg, California. Pretty again!

Photo from John Krzesinski/Flickr.

The beaches used to be perfect grouch-worthy dumping grounds, but over time, people hauled out metal and other rubbish, leaving just glass behind, which the ocean's pounded into beautiful little pebbles. Now it gets tourists!

Although, really, even I, a grouch, must admit that this German park has a kind of eerie, serene beauty to it.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Landschaftspark in Duisburg-Meiderich, Germany, used to be an ironworks plant, but was abandoned in the 1980s. Since then, it's been reclaimed and turned into a park and cultural center. There are even high ropes courses and viewing towers!

Photo by Thomas Starke/Getty Images.

The High Line in Manhattan used to be a freight line. Now it's basically like a super-cool elevated walkway and a garden had a baby.

Photo by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Again with the babies!

Even old prisons are getting in on the bit. I mean, check out Alcatraz!

Photo from Samantha Marx/Flickr.

The gardens used to be one of the few bright spots on Alcatraz, back when it was an infamous prison. The gardens were abandoned when the prison closed down in the 1960s. Years later, with some human help, the plants exploded into this riot of color. There are even places where the plants have taken over!

Photo by Glen Bowman/Flickr.

Although, as much as I hate to admit it, I do really dig that whole overgrown ruins vibe...

The Huangpu River waterfront in Shanghai, China, used to be a steel factory and shipyard, but look at it now.

Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

Now it's known as Houtan Park. Regenerative wetlands are helping to restore the environment, while long, winding paths give visitors a beautiful experience right in the heart of one of the world's biggest cities.

Finally, check out Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul, South Korea.

Photo by Park Ji-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images

The stream used to be a gigantic, trash-filled eyesore and was actually covered over in concrete in the 1950s, but today, it's been restored into this grand public space.

And while trash is lovely, splashing around in that water does look like fun...

Fine, fine! You win! Even this grouch must admit reclaiming old industrial sites is pretty legit.

The mix between old tech and lovely green space, the concept of taking the old and revitalizing it, history and fun twisted together ... it's pretty magical. Plus, having parks nearby can make people happier and healthier!

You got me, springtime. I guess I have no choice but to go enjoy the new life humans have breathed into these old sites. Good job, guys.