Originally Posted by VIRAL
Indeed it does. So does Texas right now, for the matter.
I don't disagree with the many ways a climate can lose desirability. However, all of it is besides the point of this thread:
Winter in the US South are indeed quite variable, but the variation stays steady enough for great cultivation of many basic subtropical/tropical plants (date palms, citrus, etc), particularly in the coastal areas.
As far as getting down to 0 degrees in Central Florida, I will assume that you are using Celsius. In that case, although those temps happen some winter mornings (only for like 1-2hrs tops), afternoon temps almost always can rebound into the 50s, 60s, or even 70s. On top of that, the humid, rainy summers allow plants, in general, to grow well and fast, so they are established enough to ride out the occasional chills that happen in winter.
Seattle is "greener" than Austin and New Orleans during winter the same way the taiga is "greener" than both during winter; that is, Seattle is only green because all its tree species are conifers, basically "Christmas trees," which evoke quite a "northern," wintry feel. Austin and New Orleans both have greater amounts of evergreens, both in count, and variety, and said evergreens don't evoke the wintry feel as seen in the PNW; both cities, unlike the PNW, have many broadleaf evergreens, as well as southern conifers (pines), which evoke warm, year-round climates. It's just that both cities also happen to have deciduous trees (which are relics from the last Ice Age).
The detriments of winter variability in the South, thus, end up being too minimized to matter much, in the grand scheme of things.
I don't disagree. But, it can be said that the length of heat/humid periods up north is less than that seen in the South. Both the Northeast and Canada are too cold for me in winter, so it doesn't matter.
The West is too hot, dry, and arid to be worth my time, and the parts that aren't arid/dry are just too gloomy, with atrocious rainfall patterns (winter rain, instead of summer rain).
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