Say What??

Was reading a little ditty on hardiness zones and low and behold (whatever that means), the zone boundaries have changed.  Seems they haven't been revised in years.  The Arbor Day folks did an average and have revised zone boundaries.  It's not a huge difference although it might encourage some of us on the edge to try something not quite as hardy as we previously experimented.

I've always thought my particular bit of land verged towards the colder zone.  We were listed as zone 5 and I've found anything planted on the west/north/east better be pretty darn hardy to Zone 4.  On the south side of the house, we have fences, bushes, trees and lots of winter growth - we can occasionally over-winter an annual or two. 

To the right of this blog, you will find a link to the hardiness zone finder.  Click on it and enter your zip code.

Remember:  Hardiness zones are "guides" not gospel.  Most garden spaces have a number of hardiness zones depending on the lay of the land, sun/shade exposure, wind/windbreaks, soil composition, and mulch.

2006 arborday.org Hardiness Zone Map