Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am wondering what the difference is between, Raleigh NC in the north, compared to Charlotte in the south? Are winters in both places about the same?
Also, I was street-viewing in central SC and noticed a lot of tropical palm trees. Where is the magical cut off line in the Carolinas where you start to get palms, trees do not turn brown and bare in the winter, and you are able to grow citrus trees outdoors year-round?
Is Atlanta Georgia weather comparable to any of the areas in the Carolinas?
Where is the magical cut off line in the Carolinas where you start to get palms, and are able to grow citrus trees outdoors year-round?
I don't know where the line is, but it isn't in North Carolina. Around Wilmington, you can grow Windmill Palms, as they can tolerate the occasional freezing weather. I don't think you can keep a citrus tree alive. On the coast we are Zone 8a in the USDA maps. Raleigh is cooler in zone 7b. Charlotte is on the border of 7a and the colder 7b, so it gets temps 0-5 degrees F in the winter. This map may help: http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive...diness-map.php
Atlanta is also on the border of 7a and 7b. So at least for plant hardiness, Charlotte and Atlanta are similar.
Last edited by goldenage1; 04-15-2013 at 10:09 AM..
Reason: Added USDA map
I am wondering what the difference is between, Raleigh NC in the north, compared to Charlotte in the south? Are winters in both places about the same?
Also, I was street-viewing in central SC and noticed a lot of tropical palm trees. Where is the magical cut off line in the Carolinas where you start to get palms, trees do not turn brown and bare in the winter, and you are able to grow citrus trees outdoors year-round?
Is Atlanta Georgia weather comparable to any of the areas in the Carolinas?
The City-Data pages for each city (this is NC, but you can put in Georgia, to look up Atlanta, or South Carolina to look up cities there) have nice climate maps with highs, lows, etc. Or you could just check a site like The Weather Channel for highs and lows by region and city, etc. For "fact" information it's usually better to check actual resources than ask people anecdotally on sites like this, since often people have different definitinos of "hot", "cold", "good weather", etc. Websites devoted to weather are all about the facts.
And, no, you definitely can't grow citrus trees outdoors year-round in Raleigh, at least.
You may see an occasional "South Carolina" palmetto in marshy areas of Mecklenburg county. They will live if planted in a yard.
One of my neighbors planed bananna trees, that was pushing things. They survived one winter but not the next.
I've lived in Chrlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh over the years. The southern-ness of Charlotte isn't easy to notice unless you look for it, but it's there. Greensboro is just a little more "upland" of Charlotte in terms of vegitation. Grasses stay brown longer in the winter, and the autumn color follows about 5 days after Charlotte. Raleigh's climate is somewhere between the two.
We are about 35 miles from the SC border in Moore Co. NC and it is about 5 degrees warmer here than in Raleigh Durham (according to the TV weather reports) We don't have any Palm trees but we do have some Cactus growing in our yard.
We had friends in Greensboro who had 5" of snow while we had a dusting.
So Charlotte turns brown and trees lose leaves in the winter?
If I drove south from Charlotte, in the middle of the winter, where would I start hitting green areas where things are still alive all winter?
Florida. And that's where you will get the citrus too.
Hardly any difference in northern NC and southern NC and not much more diff in southern SC. Where you see the difference is between western NC (the mountains) and eastern NC. You can grow some palms/palmettos throughout much of piedmont and eastern NC but you'll find a whole lot more pine trees.
So Charlotte turns brown and trees lose leaves in the winter?
If I drove south from Charlotte, in the middle of the winter, where would I start hitting green areas where things are still alive all winter?
You have to be specific about what turns brown in the winter. North Carolina has many deciduous trees like oak which turn brown, It also has magnolias, pines and others which stay green all year. The grass goes dormant also, but it is alive.
If you really want green all year, you want South Florida. Citrus trees grow south of Orlando in Zone 10.
We do have pine trees and such that are green year round.
So does New England, lol
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
