USDA Plant Hardiness Zones

What are Plant Hardiness Zones?

Plant Hardiness Zones are a method developed by the USDA that guide gardeners on what plants can grow within the wide ranging climates of the United States. They are intended to provide a temperature range in which a particular plant can successfully grow.

Hardiness zones are represented in a scale of temperature ranges, indicating the lowest minimum temperature that a particular plant can survive. Many gardening references will simply state a single zone. For example, “Zone 6,” means that the plant is hardy (will endure winters there) to that zone, and can also withstand the warmer zones below it. Other resources may indicate a range of zones (example: “Zones 4-9″), which means the plant will only grow in those zones, and will not tolerate the colder and warmer extremes outside them.