Know your garden · Garden Edition
What your zone can tell you
A small number with a useful job. Here’s where your hardiness zone helps—and where local knowledge takes over.
Start with winter
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map groups places by their average annual extreme minimum winter temperature. Each numbered zone spans 10°F; the a and b halves split that range into 5°F bands. It is especially useful when choosing perennial plants that need to survive your winters.
Then look a little closer
A zone is not a complete growing calendar. Two gardens in the same zone can have different frost dates, summer temperatures and rainfall. Pay attention to the conditions in your own space, and use local Extension advice and the instructions on seed packets when deciding when to plant.
Choose the right calendar
Find the zone for the place you garden. If your result is 7a or 7b, choose the Zone 7 edition. Our current collection covers Zones 5–10. The reminders are a starting point for a year of growing, with plenty of room for your own observations.