What is "hardiness"

Hardiness \Har"di*ness\ (-d[i^]*n[e^]s), n.

1. Capability of endurance.

2. Hardihood; boldness; firmness; assurance.
   --Spenser.

   Plenty and peace breeds cowards; Hardness ever Of hardiness is mother.
   --Shak.

   They who were not yet grown to the hardiness of avowing the contempt of the king.
   --Clarendon.

3. Hardship; fatigue. [Obs.]
   --Spenser.

n. 1 The state of being hardy, especially (of a plant) of being resistant to cold or other environmental conditions. 2 (context obsolete English) hardihood; boldness; firmness; assurance 3 (context obsolete English) hardship; fatigue

n. the property of strong in constitution [syn: robustness, lustiness]

Hardiness of plants describes their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered measurements of hardiness. Hardiness of plants is defined by their native extent's geographic location: longitude, latitude and elevation. These attributes are often simplified to a hardiness zone. In temperate latitudes, the term most often describes resistance to cold, or "cold-hardiness," and is generally measured by the lowest temperature a plant can withstand. Hardiness of a plant is usually divided into two categories: tender, and hardy. Some sources also use the erroneous terms "Half-hardy" or "Fully hardy". Tender plants are those killed by freezing temperatures, while hardy plants survive freezing—at least down to certain temperatures, depending on the plant. "Half-hardy" is a term used sometimes in horticulture to describe bedding plants which are sown in heat in winter or early spring, and planted outside after all danger of frost has passed. "Fully hardy" usually refers to plants being classified under the Royal Horticultural Society classifications, and can often cause confusion to those not using this method.

Plants vary a lot in their tolerance of growing conditions. The selective breeding of varieties capable of withstanding particular climates forms an important part of agriculture and horticulture. Plants adapt to changes in climate on their own to some extent. Part of the work of nursery growers of plants consists of cold hardening, or hardening off their plants, to prepare them for likely conditions in later life.

Hardiness may refer to:

• Hardiness (plants), the ability of plants to survive adverse growing conditions
  • Hardiness zone, area in which a category of plants is capable of growing, as defined by the minimum temperature of that area
• Hardiness (psychological)
• Psychological resilience, positive capacity of people to cope with stress and catastrophe
• Mental resilience, ability to bounce back from life's stressors

Hardiness (psychological), alternatively referred to as psychological hardiness, personality hardiness, or cognitive hardiness in the literature, is a personality style first introduced by Suzanne C. Kobasa in 1979. Kobasa described a pattern of personality characteristics that distinguished managers and executives who remained healthy under life stress, as compared to those who developed health problems. In the following years, the concept of hardiness was further elaborated in a book and a series of research reports by Salvatore Maddi, Kobasa and their graduate students at the University of Chicago.