What are hardiness zones?
It seems every gardening book refers to plant hardiness zones. How to find out which zone you are gardening in? Basically, plant hardiness zones are a guide to help you know which plants will grow where you live, so you don't plant things that will soon die just because they can't manage your region's temperatures. Plants vary in the temperature extremes they can endure.

How many zones are there?
The USDA plant hardiness map divides North America into 11 hardiness zones. Zone 1 is the coldest; zone 11 is the warmest, a tropical area found only in Hawaii, coastal Southern California and southernmost Florida. In between, the zones follow a fairly predictable pattern across the continent, though a closer look will reveal scattered patterns of variations. Generally, the colder zones are found at higher latitudes and higher elevations.

Applying zone references:  An example, to "Zone 6," which generally means that the plant is hardy to that zone (and will endure winters there), and generally can withstand all the warmer zones below. More detailed information may indicate a range of zones (i.e., "Zones 4-9"), which means the plants will only grow in those zones, and will not tolerate the colder and warmer extremes outside them. 

 But remember, zones are only a guide.  Please refer to our map.

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