“Consult heat zone maps to plan your garden - Daily Oklahoman” plus 1 more |
| Consult heat zone maps to plan your garden - Daily Oklahoman Posted: 23 Jan 2011 10:00 PM PST Copyright ©2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.  Q: What is a heat zone map? A: Most gardeners are familiar with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant (Cold) Hardiness Zone Map. By using the map to find the zone you live in, you can determine which plants will survive the winter in your garden. That map was first developed in 1960 and updated in 1990. Today nearly all reference books, nursery catalogs and gardening magazines describe plants using the USDA hardiness zones. Until recently, gardeners have had to rely solely on the cold hardiness zone ratings to determine a plant's regional hardiness. Cold hardiness, however, is only one factor in a plant's chances of survival. Although heat damage is not as obvious, it can be as crippling to plants as cold. Heat damage is usually characterized by a slow decline. Plants exposed to inappropriate heat may stop blooming or flowers may wither; leaves may turn pale, blue-gray or brown. Heat-stressed plants become more susceptible to pests and disease. The American Horticultural Society (AHS) has developed a heat zone map to help take some of the guesswork out of knowing which plants will thrive or at least tolerate the heat in an area. The map was first published in 1997. The AHS Heat Zone Map parallels the USDA Hardiness Zone Map in that it has 12 zones. Each zone represents a range of summer heat. These ranges are defined by the average number of days annually above 86 degrees. That is the temperature at which plants begin to suffer physiological damage from heat. (People too, I think!) Our Oklahoma County heat zone is 8, and our cold hardiness zone is 7. Since heat zone ratings are fairly new, they are not listed as regularly in references, catalogs and plant labels as hardiness zones. However, as time progresses, you will see heat zone designations joining the hardiness zone designations. Each plant will have four numbers. For example, a chrysanthemum will have the designation 4-10, 12-1. The first two numbers refer to hardiness zones and the second two numbers refer to heat zones. So, a chrysanthemum is cold hardy in zones 4 through 10, and heat tolerant in heat zones 12 through 1. That makes it a good plant for our area. You can obtain more information on heat zones and a copy of the map at the American Horticultural Society website, www.ahs.org. AHS also has published a book, "The AHS Great Plant Guide," which lists more than 3,000 plants and their heat zone and hardiness zone ratings. This book is available in paperback at a reasonable price in retail and online bookstores. Remember that heat zones and hardiness zones are just guides. Many factors affect a plant's survival. For example, many plants that thrive in dry heat suffer in the humidity of this area. The AHS did not take into consideration the humidity of an area when it developed heat zones; so some plants that are listed as being within our heat zone may suffer in midsummer. Also, the availability of water affects how well plants live in heat. A plant that is tolerant of the heat in our area may not be drought-tolerant. Mulch your plants to conserve water and provide water to the plant roots instead of overhead. Another factor that affects a plant's cold and heat tolerance is where it is planted within your yard. Plants placed near asphalt or brick walls are in a warmer microclimate than those planted on an open hill. Hey, nobody said gardening is easy! The AHS Heat Zone Map is just another tool to help you cope with the challenges of Mother Nature. Ray Ridlen is an agriculture and horticulture educator for the Oklahoma County Extension Service. His column addresses frequently asked horticulture questions. For more information, call 713-1125. Life Photo Galleriesview allThis entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| The Guide: Raf Simons - New York Times Blogs Posted: 23 Jan 2011 02:36 PM PST Nearly six years ago, in a review of a Raf Simons show, I wrote that the Belgian designer deserved a Swiss bank. The reference was to the Swiss Textile Award that Mr. Simons had won that year and the difference the prize money made in his future-minded collection. Since then, many people have said I favor Mr. Simons, both in his men's line and the women's collections he does for Jil Sander. Look, I just think Mr. Simons consistently turns out interesting collections, and, in 2005, I looked at videos and photographs of all his shows and presentations going back to the mid-'90s, to see what I had missed — which was a lot. At both Jil and Raf Simons, he makes it fairly easy for journalists and others to follow what he's doing, because his work is really a progression of ideas and assumptions. Working for Jil Sander has also opened his mind to new ideas, in particular the traditions of haute couture and dynamic materials. Am I enthusiastic about a designer whose goal is to move fashion forward? You bet I am. Before his show on Saturday night, Mr. Simons announced that he had severed his dealings with his manufacturing partner, leaving open the question of when he will be able to sell the fall 2011 collection to store buyers. Perhaps he will be able to do so by the women's ready-to-wear shows in February. Unfortunately, small and independent designers face challenges of this kind all the time. He'll just have to work it out. As many people who attend his shows would agree, what is discouraging is that many of Mr. Simons's clothes deserve a wider audience — and under his own label, not those of brands that copy and profit from his designs. He has some experimental pieces (that's a necessary part of the creative process), but most are wearable, and he doesn't have stuff that is plainly ridiculous. For his latest collection, Mr. Simons said he was influenced by craftsmen, perhaps in contrast to the influence of Internet technology and the treatment of luxury fashion as a commodity. Certainly, apart from one or two aprons in coarse mohair tied over coats, the connection to craft wasn't so pronounced. That would be pretty tedious anyway. What I found most interesting about the collection were the shapes and the subtle play between classic men's styles (the stadium toggle coat, the anorak) and the roundness and loft that can be achieved in couture. Remember, in Mr. Simons' last Jil Sander show, he did a lot of styles that combined iconic haute couture shapes and Japanese synthetics that had a spongy lightness. A goal of Mr. Simons is to make his clothes believable on the street, and I thought he did that well this time with his new, slightly rounded coats and jackets. I didn't grasp the point of pod-shaped coats that looked bulky and closed like a hospital gown in the back, but the shape and the stiff material gives us something to think about and maybe Mr. Simons as well. Black, liquid-looking trousers were intriguing — again, as a proportion and a texture — but what I really loved were the suits and the patch-pocket camel blazers. In a season of a lot of foolishness directed at suits — a tweak here, a tweak there — Mr. Simons brings a confidence that is the result of making the young man's suit his dominant obsession for 15 years. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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