Tip Of The Day - 8/21/05 - Hardiness Zones

[Sean Adams]

Found this and thought it would be a good "tip"

Probably the most important consideration in determining what garden and landscape plants you can grow is whether or not they will survive the climate in your area.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map factors in average winter minimum temperatures. This collection of information starts with Zone 1, where minimum temperatures can go down to MINUS 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and ranges to Zone 11, for the lucky gardeners in Hawaii and extreme Southern Florida where lows don't drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
The data on which the USDA map is based was gathered over a period of 60 years.

(First number on left is zone, number to right is temperature in farenheit)

1 Below -50 F
2a -50 to -45 F
2b -45 to -40 F
3a -40 to -35 F
3b -35 to -30 F
4a -30 to -25 F
4b -25 to -20 F
5a -20 to -15 F
5b -15 to -10 F
6a -10 to -5 F
6b -5 to 0 F
7a 0 to 5 F
7b 5 to 10 F
8a 10 to 15 F
8b 15 to 20 F
9a 20 to 25 F
9b 25 to 30 F
10a 30 to 35 F
10b 35 to 40 F
11 above 40 F