the.com/hardiness
the stubborn refusal to die that turned weeds into legends and survivors into saints
means The quality of being tough, resilient, and able to withstand harsh conditions or hardship without giving way.
from From 'hardy,' which English borrowed in the Middle Ages from Old French 'hardi' — meaning bold, daring, made tough — itself the past participle of 'hardir,' to make hard or embolden. That verb traces back to a Germanic root for 'hard' (a cousin of English 'hard' itself). The '-ness' is the plain old English suffix that turns a quality into a thing, so 'hardiness' is literally the state of being made hard.
- Plant zones
- USDA maps the cold a plant can survive
- Origin
- From Old French hardi, meaning bold or daring
- Psychology
- Studied as a buffer against stress-driven illness
- Tardigrades
- Survive space vacuum, radiation, and total dehydration
- Tested cold
- Some seeds germinate after freezing for centuries
zone 3 perennials — plants like coneflowers survive -40°f winters in minnesota and canada
tardigrades — microscopic animals survive radiation, vacuum, and -328°f in laboratories