Which climate zone are you in?
Understanding climate zones is critical for selecting permanent landscape plants. If you want a shrub, perennial, or tree to survive and grow year after year, the plant must tolerate year-round conditions in your area: the lowest and highest temperatures, the amount and distribution of rainfall (or availability of irrigation), and soil conditions.
In eastern North America, the most commonly used zone map is the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Hardiness Zone Map, devised in 1960 and revised in 1990. On the Internet, the most commonly used zone map is from National Gardening.
Which zone map?
Gardening references include many kinds of climate zone maps. For instance, vegetable gardeners might consult maps that show the average dates of first and last frosts or perhaps the amount of sunshine or rain their regions receive. But the most common zone maps are those that show where various permanent landscape plants can adapt.
Perhaps the safest course to ensure plant adaptability is to grow only plants native to your particular region. Native plants have proved they can survive in your climate. However, plants don't stay in their regions of origin any more than gardeners do. Gardeners need a way to compare their garden climates with the climate where the plant is known to grow well. Zone maps provide critical climate information.
PA
RI
SC
D.C.
KY
Need help? Talk to our climate zone experts.
info@perennialfarm.com
(410) 592-6106
12017 Glen Arm Road
Glen Arm, MD 21057