Why Study a Gardening Zones Chart?

Why is it important to Know Your climate zones? With spring comes planning and planting, and the most important question is “What can I Plant?” Before you even consider buying, study your zone chart and find out your plant zone number.

Do you live in the northern, southern, eastern, or western part of North America? Are your winters harsh? Are your summers scorching hot? What plants/trees will withstand your type of weather? Most plant tags feature a zone number to indicate the plant’s hardiness, that is, its ability to survive certain conditions.

The Continental North America zone chart is divided into 11 zones:

Zone / Temperature F / Temperature C (Celsius)

Zone 1 is below -50F or below -46C (certain parts of Northern Canada)

Zone 2 is -50 to -40F or -46 to -40C (Northern Canada)

Zone 3 is -40 to -30F or -40 to -34C

Zone 4 is -30 to -20F or -34 to -29C

Zone 5 is -20 to -10F or - 29 to -23C

Zone 6 is -10 to 0F or - 23 to -18C

Zone 7 is 0 to 10F or -18 to -12C

Zone 8 is +10 to+20F or -12 to -7C

Zone 9 is +20 to 30F or -7 to -1C

Zone 10 is +30 to 40F or -1 to +4C

Zone 11 is +40 to +50F or +4 to+10C (Southernmost tip of US and west coast)

If you are in Quebec City, for example, (Zone 4) you would look for plants that are listed as Zone 4 or lower. If you are in Vancouver (Zone 7), you can grow plants listed as Zone 7 or lower.

Most plants can be grown in a wide range of zones. Some plants such as perennials, biennials, and bulbs are hardy only in certain zones. But annuals (plants that grow for only one season) grow in any zone as long as they are given the proper amounts of water and sunlight.

The zones on this chart represent the average minimum temperatures in different areas. The zones actually blend into each other, and within each zone there are microclimates that can be colder or milder.

The lower the number on the plant tag, the hardier the plant. So before you even look at plants, get a zone chart from your local plant nursery and find out what zone you live in. It helps to know what zone you live in so you can buy plants that will do well for you.

If you are contemplating building your first backyard garden, see my next post for tips.

Happy gardening!
Marcie

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 20th, 2007 at 12:12 am and is filed under Know Your Zones, Gardening zones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.