If you are putting together a garden, and your plan is to grow live plants in a successful manner, then as a gardener one of the things that you are going to have to do is to choose the plants that fit in well with your own personal gardening zone. The majority of the plants that you are going to find in your local nurseries are going to be at least somewhat compatible with your area’s gardening zone. When you buy seeds, seedlings and bulbs in catalogs and through other sources, you should find them to be tagged so that you can tell what types of zones they are going to best thrive in. These zones are identified based on the overall climate for the region as well as the minimum and maximum temperatures that are recorded in the specific area.
The United States Department of Agriculture or USDA has a gardening zone map that is based on the lowest temperatures that are experienced all throughout the entire United States as well as Canada and Mexico. There are 11 different gardening zones that are designated on this map. The coldest zone on the map is zone 1 and the hottest zone on the map is zone 11. This map was originally released in the early 1960s, and it has been revised multiple times throughout the years. The current map that is in use by the USDA was last revised in 1990. In this map, zones 2 through 9 are all subdivided into two sections which are a and b, and these zones are represented by lighter shades in the case of a, and darker shades in the case of b. Each of these sections is designed to represent a difference of as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit in each of the zones, with the lighter shades representing 5 degrees cooler than the darker shades.
A single state can easily fall into a number of different zones at once. Alaska, for example, has the zones 1, 2a, 2b and 3a within it. Florida is another one of the United States that has multiple zones located within it. The state begins at zone 8b and then it ends at zone 10b. All of the warmest regions within the United States are going to fall under zone 11. Hawaii, for example, falls into zone 11. The United States Department of Agriculture was the first group to develop these hardiness zones, but there have been other adaptations over time as well.
Using the right plants in the proper gardening zone is going to play a big role in making sure that you experience gardening success. Zone maps are capable of being found in book stores, libraries and online. Gardening supply stores also tend to be a good reference for this purpose. Don’t be afraid to ask questions at your local nursery if you are unsure about a certain plant and its likelihood to succeed in your country garden landscape.
Photo Credits: bill barber (very sporadic)
Originally posted 2009-08-10 03:47:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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