Planting zones come in two flavors.

One is the AHS Heat Zone map which you can find here. The other and most widely used is the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map. It’s the one we’ll be discussing today.

The hardiness zone map can tell you what the average annual low temperatures are in your area during the winter months.This will tell you what plants will survive winter temperatures in your area.

Zone 1 is the coldest, and gardeners in those regions have lows of – 50 degrees farenheit. (YIKES!) If you live in Fairbanks, Alaska or certain parts of Canada, you may be in Zone 1.

As you move up the map numerically 1, 2, 3, 4 , etc., you are actually heading south through the US. The warmest zones in the United States are in the deep south and Hawaiian islands.

If you remember anything from third grade weather and geography, you know that in North America it gets warmer as you go south. Florida sports zones 8 through 10. Zone 11 regions are the warmest spots on the map, and those areas are balmy and tropical, like Hawaii.

You can find the USDA hardiness zone map at:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

Just click on the map for more information.

You’ll see a guide with colored bars that list the various zones and the temperature ranges of each.

You can look at your state to see where your area lies in the temperature range.

OK, So Why Should You Care About This?

Honestly! This is all terribly important to you because if you buy perennial or biennial plants that are not winter hardy in your area, do not be surprised if they do not come back up next spring.

If you live in zone 5 and buy herb plants with tags that claim they are hardy only to zone 7, there is a real good chance that your herbs will not show any sign of life after the winter has passed, and rightly so. They warned you.

Oh sure, I could tell you that one option would be to dig up your herbs and take them inside for the winter, but then you won’t need that zone map!

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