What growing zone do you live in?

[dlangland]

I think it would be interesting as we are sharing ideas with thoughts of spring on the way, to know what growing zone we are each dealing with...Me, I'm in Zone 4, yet the midwest climate is unpredicable enough and the winter winds are so very harsh, I have had best results when selecting fruit trees/bushes to use things hardy to zone 3, just to be on the safe side, unless in a sheltered location. Deb

[Kathy]

I'm in zone 8 according to the garden catalogs but 7 if you go by the USDA map!!
Either way; pretty much anything heat hearty except citrus will grow here.

Here's a site to check your zone and growing conditions.

www.growit.com/Zones/

[dlangland]

See, that is what I was curious about, Kathy. You are probably already doing-it-to-it then, or not, while the rest of us are just daydreaming and planning for spring. Deb

[Kathy]

Deb, the flowers bloom year round here. I admired the magnolia blooms a few days before Christmas!
There's flats of flowers and fully leafed out bushesfor sale year round in front of stores and at the garden centers.

We do lose the leaves on the trees but the whole process seems to only take about 6wks before the new growth is starting again.

I moved from WI where I was flat out zone 3, then to zone 5/6 and now 7/8! So it's been a definite learning experience!

[Deleted]

I'm right on the line of zones 4 and 5. I usually look for zone 4 hearty things though.... just to be safe. We usually can't plant seedlings outside (unprotected) until June-ish.

Kaza

[Deleted]

I'm in Zone 4, too, but I'll tell you, so far this winter has seemed more like Zone 6 or 7! I honestly don't think it's been any worse here this year (except for a few days below zero) than it was when I lived in Portland, Oregon, which I believe is Zone 8. Go figure. You watch, though, along about the middle of March, we'll probably get a screaming blizzard and snow that lasts until the end of April. It wouldn't surprise me at all...

Right now, in the middle of January, it's in the low 50's during the day, and right around freezing at night, and all my perennials have started growing new spring leaves. We're probably going to lose all our lilac blossoms this year because they'll think it's Spring and start budding out just before that March blizzard hits!

~Lannie

[bergere]

I am in Zone 7/8. However,, with the hard frost for almost all of Nov...would play it on the safe side and say zone 7.
Also haven't grown things in this kind of clay soil before...and the high winds can make things interesting.
So am also in a learning curve.

The deer and elk haven't been around here lately, Thank goodness!

Some of my Fruit trees came early,, along with the Huckleberry and 2 climbing roses. So with DS help, have planted them all in the sucky clay mud, in the rain.
Well,, at least at this point I do not have to worry about watering.

[dlangland]

I am probably the only fool who as I shovel snow up aside my newly planted evergreens for the little bit of extra moisture, prays no one will drive by...Deb :)

[bergere]

Deb,

Extra snow on many plants actually helps to protect them from further damage from the cold.
So you are in no way silly by doing so. ;D

[Deleted]

Why do so many people see being normal as bein crazy?

Kaza

[kitaye]

I'm in zone 4a according to some maps, 3 according to others, and zone 5a according to the Canada Agriculture site
wms1.agr.gc.ca/cgi-bin/mapplant2000?mode=browse&layer=zones&layer=cities

I tend to look for anything that does well in zone 4. I'm experimenting with some plants for zone 5. I have my eye on a few trees that are rated for zone 3.

[dlangland]

How very interesting, kitaye. Thanks for posting that link. Deb

[kitaye]

Hey, no problem dlangland. I found it extremely useful since I can zoom in on my exact location to see exactly where I fall in the zones.

[Deleted]

I live in zone 2 a or b I can't remember which. Either way the growing season is short. Typically we don't even begin digging in the dirt until the end of May, maybe. The last couple of years I haven't put my garden in until mid-June.

[labrat]

I once found a site that informed me that the central Bluegrass State is in Zone 6A, but of course I can't find it now. I did however find another site that gives hardiness zones. That of course is essential for those of us that want to grow fruit trees. All you do is put in your zipcode and the answer appears. It is powered by arborday.org so I would think it's reliable. www.nwbuildnet.com/articles/plantzonemap.html

[dlangland]

Thank you, labrat. Very interesting. According to that site, I am zone 5. I honestly don't remember where I looked before, but I know it didn't seem right to me that I was still in the same growing zone as before for I moved 3 1/2 hours SE last summer. Deb