Gardeners here and on social media have been all in a “tizzy” about the USDA assigning new gardening zones. So what is a gardening zone? The USDA divides North America into 11 hardiness zones.

For example, tropical Bird of Paradise flowers are suitable for growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 10 to 12, so there’s probably no point planting this if you don’t have warm winters ...

The USDA divides the United States into seven planting regions, known as hardiness zones, which were most recently updated in 2023. The maps below show these planting regions.

The 2012 map had me in Zone 8a (10 to 15 degrees) — while way back in 1990, I was in Zone 7b (5 to 10 degrees). Another example: Williamsburg, ZIP code 23185, has seen its zone change from 7a to ...

The map is based on 30-year averages of the coldest winter temperatures at specific locations, and divides the continental U.S. and Canada into 10 zones, which are further divided into half-zones ...

"There are dramatic changes," he says. There are 13 zones, each divided into A and B half zones. The lower the zone number, the colder the overall temperatures. "Ohio in 2012 was mainly in the 6s.

Comparing the 2023 map to the previous version from 2012 clearly shows that as climate change warms the Earth, plant hardiness zones are shifting northward. On average, the coldest days of winter ...

Point being, when these two newer maps show North Central Texas to be in Hardiness Zone 8b, that just isn’t the case.

The zone categories are useful for both homeowners and farmers to know generally how to make the best plant and crop selections for gardens, nurseries and fields, since low temperatures during the ...

Plant labels, catalogs, books and websites all classify plants according to the USDA hardiness zones. On the new map, Chicago is in Zone 6 rather than the slightly colder Zone 5.

Louisiana's growing zones range from 8b in North Louisiana to 10a at the state's southern-most tip, with majority of the state falling into either zones 8 and 9, according to USDA's Hardiness Zone ...

Louisiana's growing zones range from 8b in North Louisiana to 10a at the state's southern-most tip, with majority of the state falling into either zones 8 and 9, according to USDA's Hardiness Zone ...