Appearance, Tolerance, Length of Life exam 2

Evergreen

plants retain each years set of leaves for 3-5 years. Constantly dropping 1 years set of leaves; when the oldest leaves fall off they don’t grow back, they are naked. example: hemlocks

Growth events

flush, flower, set buds

Deciduous

most loses all it’s leaves every autumn. Leaves are often colored before they fall. Example: apple tree, oak, maple

Growth kind

woody: tissue comprised of hard permanent  / herbaceous: soft tender, succulent tissue

Tropical Temperament

will not tolerate freezing (32 deg) injured and death in cold. Chilling injury occurs between 33-35 degrees. Example: tomato, bananas 

tomato tip

your tomatoes will turn to mush if they are left in freezing/a little above freezing; plant them after freezing and harvest before freeze again. You can fool this tropical plant into thinking NC is tropical

FFFD (first frost FREE date)

the date after which frost decreases. You can still get freezing after that date though! Varies depending on where you are in the country: Raleigh;April 15/Massachusetts;May 15+

Last frost free date

the date after which the chance of frost increases. Raleigh: october 31/Massachusetts:labor day

Subtropical temperament

tolerate short periods of cold (hours) freezing. not for prolonged period of time. typically no chilling injury, can sustain depending on how long/cold it gets. example: citrues/lemons,oranges. typically about 25 degrees, below that they get NERVOUS

Temperate temperament

tolerate long periods of freezing and below for prolonged periods of time (days) example: apples, pears, cherries, oaks, maples. Dormancy allows them to survive cold

Dormancy

period of rest in growth due to cold temperatures. some trees lose leaves. example: deciduous trees: apple trees, oak, and maple

Lengths of life

Annuals, Biennials, Perennial, Volunteers

Annuals

plants that live for only one growing season, usually killed by freezing temperatures in the fall. They turn brown when it freezes, roots, leaves, everything dies. plant them 2-4 weeks after last frost free date

Bedding plants

very colorful short life cycle annuals. used outside of building entrances because color sells.

Biennial

any plant that completes it’s life cycle in 2 years. In 2 years they DIE after reproducing. First year: vegetative growth/second year: reproductive growth. example: carrots, we harvest the carrots BEFORE it flowers. Daucus carota - Queen Anne’s Lace. if you plant seeds every year then you’ll get flowers every year

Perennial

plants that live 3 or more years.

Over winters

herbacious perennials over winters as a root system, root system survives and leaves/flowers die. BUT they will sprout up the next year. You don’t yank perennials out of the ground like you would annuals

Volunteers

annuals that “appear” to act like perennials. The plant actually dies but have “set seed” that is able to “over winter” and germinate next season

Bryce’s volunteer example

he plant ‘Big Red’ Impatients, they die but the seeds germinate as red/pink/white flowering Impatiens. Cultivar not coming true from seed

mass planting

any time you use 3 or more of the same plant together. often used to display color from a distance

Temperate plant hardiness

Whether a plant can withstand temperature predicted for a range of zones. based on average annual minimum winter temperature. How cold it can get every morning

How is plant hardiness divided

divided into 10 degree F zones

Plant heat zone

heat load a plant is exposed to can handle

What biome are we in

we are in the temperate deciduous forest biome, same as Japan!

What to remember about plant hardiness map

not a definitive answer, used as a tool. because the average fluctuates they make 10 degree zones. lower zone plants can handle a range of cold but not heat.

what hardiness zone was NC in vs now?

used to be in 7b, now we are in 8a. 8a is warmer than 7b

Full sun

6 hours required for a plant to complete their photosynthetic process