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Recently on the news there has been quite a lot of coverage in the small town of Midland City, AL (5 year old hostage). I couldn't help but notice how the area looked almost the same as my area around here. The grass looks brown/ green, and a lot of dead trees. This part of Alabama is around 80 miles inland from the coast.
I looked at the weather stats for the area and found this:
November avg high/low = 69/43F with lowest temp of 28F and two nights 32f or below for entire month
December " " = 65/44F with lowest temp of 28F and three nights 32f or below for month
January " " = 68/47F with lowest temp of 32F and two nights 32F or below for entire month
February " " = 62/36F with lowest temp of 32F on one night so far
My area has had a low of 12F, and has been much colder every month than this part of Alabama.
Anyone know why the area looks so much less subtropical than other subtropical locations around the world. New Zeland where Joe90 lives gets colder than 28F, yet his area looks much more evergreen.
Interesting. Lots of deciduous trees would help with that look, Plenty of deciduous trees here, but not en masse, apart from orchards or rivers (willows). The grass in the pic doesn't look to have been headed, which gives it that dry look, even if it's still growing underneath.
It could just be that particular day or the photo quality, but the sky doesn't have the bright blue look typical of winter and colours in general look a bit muted. Perhaps higher dewpoints give it that hazy look?
62f is perfect for growing. Infact growing will persist through the period.
Our high is sometimes lower than that in the summer and grass grows like hell.
London isn't really warmer than Atlanta, it is just that London has warmer low temps.
The avg Jan min in London is 36F, while in Atlanta it is 34F. London avg monthly temp in Jan is around 41F, while Atlanta is 43F. However, Atlanta is in USDA zone 8a (lowest temp each winter between 10F-15F), while London is in zone 9a (lowest temp between 20F-25F).
I think though the diff is that the extreme lows each winter are about 10F colder in Atlanta.
But the pic I posted above is of an area that has been quite a bit warmer than anywhere in the UK with temps all winter in the 60's and an extreme min temp of 28F.
The grass is probably brown looking cause it is warm weather grass, but you also don't see any flowering plants around, or other signs of the subtropics.
No way we can compare London with Atlanta. Not the same at all.
And it doesn't matter what the low is, the average high affects grass growth. If its below around 7c the grass will not grow at all. In Atlanta the average high if 11c...
I don't think the summer heat controls things. Deciduous trees are an adaptation for winter periods of no growth. Alabama has those trees because that's what evolved there, even if the conditions in the present era are different. just like bush in NZ evolved in response to past conditions and as a result grow 12 months of the year
Introduced plants are a useful guide. Where are the Acacias, Eucalyptus, palms, subtropical fruits, Cactus/succulents in those photos of Midland? Go to subtropical regions of the world and these are signature plants for a certain level of winter mildness. They would all handle an Alabama summer, so should be there if winters don't get killing cold periods every so often.
I don't think the summer heat controls things. Deciduous trees are an adaptation for winter periods of no growth. Alabama has those trees because that's what evolved there, even if the conditions in the present era are different. just like bush in NZ evolved in response to past conditions and as a result grow 12 months of the year
Introduced plants are a useful guide. Where are the Acacias, Eucalyptus, palms, subtropical fruits, Cactus/succulents in those photos of Midland? Go to subtropical regions of the world and these are signature plants for a certain level of winter mildness. They would all handle an Alabama summer, so should be there if winters don't get killing cold periods every so often.
It makes sense what you're saying. I'm thinking though that the decidious trees there were planted by people, and maybe not all are native. I think if the area had your cooler summer weather it would look more lush in winter because the grass would be very green and would keep growing through winter. The summer heat prevents them from growing your type of grasses.
Dothan, Alabama (Midland is right outside Dothan) is about 80 miles from the coast. What is great about the internet is I just googled a nursery in Dothan and asked if citrus and Canary Island Date Palms grow in Dothan. The guy emailed back pretty quick. I assume that people that grew up in the nursery industry know a lot about what grows in an area.
Here is his reply:
I was surprised about his comment on bananas since I've heard from people on the citrus forum that people in southern Alabama are growing edible bananas and enjoying the fruit they produce. Then I realized that Dothan and Midland are well past the magic 50 mile distance from the coast (it's about 80 miles inland).
Bill Finch knows a lot about subtropical growing in south Alabama. There is a Citrus Expo in the US each year and he is a frequent guest lecturer there. Apparently the only limiting factor for citrus is picking the varieties that ripen earlier in winter since freezes in midwinter will damage the fruit, not the tree. I found this from one of his blogs on Alabama gardening (sorry for the long length):
There was more, but I think this shows the area is def capable of growing
those subtropicals you mentioned. Seems strange to me the area just doesn't
look subtropical. The author made the point about how people there are more
comfortable growing apples, which don't do well there, than growing the things
which will taste a lot better.
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) in the winter and brown in the summer.
