What do Kilmarnock and Birmingham, Alabama, Have in Common?
One is a city of about 195,000 people in the Deep South, a regional moniker that carries all sorts of inferences. The world’s largest cast-iron statue, called “Vulcan,” is a nod to Birmingham’s iron and steel industry past and overlooks the city. We’d be remiss in not mentioning that Vulcan’s bare buns are as wide as a Greyhound bus.
The other is a town of 1,423 people—give or take a couple—that is known as the “commercial hub” of the bucolic Northern Neck. Perhaps thankfully, there’s nothing quite like the 56-foot-tall, bearded, muscle-bound Vulcan on a 124-foot pedestal on a hill overlooking Kilmarnock.
While there’s a pair of colorful, oversized watermen’s boots outside the Kilmarnock Inn, they’re not nearly as imposing as Vulcan. Nor as vulgar.
Kilmarnock and Birmingham are 750 miles via I-85 and worlds apart. We know what you’re thinking. They have absolutely nothing in common.
Wrong.
It turns out, they’re in the exact same 2023 USDA plant hardiness zone: 8a. Although they are separated by nearly 300 miles in latitude, you can plant and grow the same fruits and veggies in Birmingham as in Kilmarnock.
On paper at least.
All because Kilmarnock and other Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula towns, counties, communities and even places that are more states of mind (Onemo, Pinero, Bena and Ordinary, for example) got a growing zone upgrade.
The upgrade came for one reason, and you aren’t going to believe why. OK, maybe you will believe it. It’s hotter than it used to be.
It’s that simple. The previous 2012 version of the USDA hardiness zone map classified much of the Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula in zone 7b. Now they are in 8a.
The difference between 7b and 8a is:
- 7b has low temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees
- 8a has low temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees
It really does come down to about 5 degrees of difference.
These low temperatures are calculated on 30-year averages for the lowest winter temperatures within specified locations. For the 2023 version of the map, that’s from 1991 to 2020. The 2012 map was based on averages from 1976 to 2005.
Per the map, it’s 4 to 5 degrees warmer across our region compared to yesteryear. That’s even warmer than the average 2.5-degree increase for the country, with many locales across the U.S. seeing a change in their hardiness zone.
So what does this mean for us gardeners? Maybe not as much as you might think because it’s a subtle change.
For our region, it’s all about microclimates. That comes straight from the gardening savants of the Gloucester Master Gardeners (GMG).
For example, Bob Beyea, a Gloucester master gardener who lives just across the county line in King and Queen, says he may get a frost two weeks earlier in fall and two weeks later in spring than the region in general does.
At a GMG presentation in January, Beyea said no one can tell you how to garden because there are too many variables. “No one’s garden has the same soil, water, sunlight, climate, drainage, terrain, wind, weather or resources,” he said.
There are also thousands of varieties of plants or vegetables. Also, people have different gardening skill levels and time to spend in the garden.
Think of the hardiness zone map as a broad overview offering general guidelines. The key takeaway is to plant fruits and vegetables suitable to your zone. And hold off on the banana and avocado trees because we’re not quite there yet.
Beyea recommends going to the Home Gardening in Gloucester publication on the Gloucester Master Gardeners website at gemg.org. The guide runs about 150 pages and covers everything from native plants, to fruit trees and vegetables, to the environment.
It’s also helpful to keep tabs on your rainfall and temperatures to learn about your microclimate.
Plus, you’ll learn Kilmarnock and Birmingham have their differences.
Key Takeaways:
- If you live by the Chesapeake Bay or the York River, you’ll have a warmer winter and cooler summer. The water moderates the temperature.
- Lower areas of the region may be cooler than the county’s overall average and may be susceptible to freezes because warm air rises and cold air falls.
- Your yard has its own microclimate. North-facing sides of buildings—the ones prone to mildew—will be cooler and damper than the south sides. Shaded areas may be 5-10 degrees cooler than areas in full sun. The same trees offer windbreaks and help retain warmth in the winter.
Go to gemg.org and planthardiness.ars.usda.gov for additional information.