Hi all, Meteorologist John Fischer here with KLCC's Good Gardening.
I have a little climate conundrum quiz for you, so if you're driving, don't get distracted. The coldest daily low temperature ever recorded in Eugene was -12 below zero on December 8th, 1972. The second coldest daily low temperature ever recorded was -10 below zero, but that reading did not set a record. How could this be?
Both the -12, and the -10 occurred on the same day of the year - hence no record for the second coldest all-time temperature.
Our all-time record high went from 108 to 111 in the June 2021 heat wave. Salem went from 108 to 117 - a big change.
So, what does this have to do with your garden? Not much for years, or even decades at a time. But those rare extreme low temperatures may kill a kiwi, fig, or olive plant after years of productive growth. Check new plants for their cold hardiness rating, before you put them in your yard.
On the high temperature side, Red Cedars or doing poorly due to heat, and drought. If you want a cedar tree, an Incense Cedar might be a better choice. Raspberries are getting sunburned more often as summers warm. Blackberries are generally more heat tolerant.
You can modify the weather for your plants temporarily. An Italian friend of mine has a fig tree - that lives in an insulated cocoon all winter - in Michigan - far north of the normal range for figs.
And extra water can help plants through extra heat, but right plant - right place is always the best choice. New Garden Zone maps issued by the U S Department of Agriculture show an increase of 2 and a half degrees in average lows. With many areas shifting about half a zone to the warm side. Could citrus and avocados be part of our gardens in the future?
