Gardening Zones

Gardening Zones? What are those? Garden zones in the United States are actually weather zones as listed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA has created a map for Canada, the United States, and Mexico that shows the minimum winter temperatures in any given area. It’s very useful to determine if a plant will survive your winter lows.

Determining Your Zone

Most nursery plants sold in the U.S. include the USDA gardening zones on their tags. To determine the zone that you live in within the United States, just type in your zip code in the finder below. Then compare it to the temperature chart to determine the winter lows for your area.

Sunset Gardening Zones

If you happen to live in the western United States, Alaska or Hawaii, refer to Sunset’s Western Garden Book for gardening zones. The Western garden book is actually your best reference for detailed information on the micro-climate by your house. This garden book has broken up each state into specific, detailed climate zones. These zones are very different than those listed by the USDA. They consider the conditions specific to your state and county.I can, for instance, locate the zone for my hometown of Roseville, California easily. I know that my Sunset garden zone is 14 and that it gets some marine air influence. Less than 30 minutes away, however, Orangevale has a different set of growing conditions and is labeled as a zone 9.

Although I recommend purchasing this book because you’ll use it for thirty years, you will also find it to be a general reference text at most western nurseries. I take mine to the nursery when I shop. Most growers are meticulous about marking plants, but I have avoided several purchasing mistakes by checking my Sunset Western Garden Book for zone information first.