In the Okanagan Valley, rhododendrons, so glorious in the rain forests on the Pacific Coast, and so frost tender, grow at elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 feet, in moose swamps of black spruce, alder, sedges, willow and the occasional cedar or fir. It’s a very coastal landscape, with deep acidic soils. It’s a very northern landscape, with deep snow, long winters, and very slowly growing environments.

Okanagan Rhododendron

These are just the kinds of adaptations across climatic zones that will allow life to flourish in upcoming climatic change. Transporting plants across zones is not the answer. Nourishing cross-zone species is.