Good Friday, along with its friend Easter, always has been
one of those strange holidays that bounced around all over the calendar. Rather
than being based on a human calendar, it was determine by nature’s schedule.
The actual occurrence could range from March to April, making the selection of
that frock for Easter Sunday dicey at best in the most unpredictable of seasons
in the South. But one thing was a certainty. My grandmother would be planting
her garden on Good Friday no matter what day and month.
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But Mother Nature’s schedule has been shifting and changing.
According to a report recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, spring, defined as the day when
leaves first appear and flowers begin blooming, will arrive an average of 22
days earlier by 2100. The good news is that the Southern states, where “leaf
out” already is relatively early, will be the least affected.
However, predictions are that nationwide planting zones will
shift more rapidly than in the past. Currently, Memphis is a tiny island of
Zone 8 with most of Tennessee in Zone 7. The map below shows Zone 8 moving
north over the next 30 years. For some of us, this will mean opportunities to
plant gardens that are more traditionally Southern. For others, this could
create challenges in maintaining some of our favorites.
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And the immediate future looks warm and warmer. While many
Memphians are hoping for a hard freeze soon to help control the insects and
other critters that plague us during our long hot summers, neither the Farmer’s Almanac nor the various weather
services are offering much hope. Temperatures are predicted to continue to be
fair through the spring, although, as we well know, there are no guarantees!
So what’s a gardener to do? First is to realize that we are
not in control as much as we’d like to
be. Whatever the reason for the increasingly warmer weather, most of us are not
in a position to do much about it.
Realize that the warming trends eventually become more
apparent and adjust accordingly. Respect your Zone and smaller ecosystem where
you garden. Keep in mind that the numbers thrown out are averages and not one
of us, nor our gardens, should be considered average.
Sources:
Environmental Research Letters, Farmers Almanac, GlobalChange.gov
Interesting! In my youth,too,Good Friday was considered the first planting day of spring. Another sign my granddad used to determine that spring had arrived was the final drop of the oaks' leaves. My "signal" tree is still holding onto its leaves so we'll see . . .
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