Effects of the Cold and Protection by Snow

I received this e-mail today:

The early morning of Feb 10 we hit a low of -17F. According to article below – this was the coldest night in 29 years, the second coldest in 106 years and the 4th coldest ever recorded in Wichita.
http://blogs.kansas.com/weather/2011/02/10/coldest-temperatures-in-wichita-in-more-than-20-years-overnight/

This is essentially a zone 5a temperature - http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-sm1.html

How will this affect us? Time will tell. We were blessed to have six inches of snow cover still on the ground this will help perennials that were covered. Gardeners in Minnesota (zone 4) can get by with some zone 5 and 6 perennials when they have adequate snow cover. Some shrubs may die back to the snow line.

How will this affect trees and shrubs? Zone 5 plants should be fine. Zone 6 plants may have cambium damage that can cause them to die back or die. After it got down to -21 in Feb of 1982, some zone 6 died totally, and mimosas leafed out then slowly died back to just the lower trunks over the next year.



Bob Neier

County Extension Agent, Horticulture
K-State Research & Extension - Sedgwick County
7001 W 21st N,
Wichita, KS 67205-1759
316-660-0140 phone
316-722-1432 FAX
bneier@ksu.edu
www.sedgwick.ksu.edu