Sometimes called “growing zones” or “gardening zones,” hardiness zones refer to a map developed by the USDA that separates the United States into regions based on the average low winter temperatures.

The U.S. government has updated its map of plant hardiness zones for the first time in more than a decade. The map sets out the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature across the country, ...

When spring arrives, gardeners are ready to buy plants, and many times we are trying something new and different. View full sizeIllustration by Kenneth Harrison / The Times-Picayune One of the most ...

Late last November, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an updated Plant Hardiness Zone map for the United States. Gardeners use this map to determine which plants and specific ...

Knowing the precise time to get annual plants into the ground and whether or not a perennial will grow in a given location is often buried in local community lore, but the US Department of Agriculture ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released a new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map, updating this valuable tool for gardeners and researchers for the first time since 2012. USDA’s ...

Native Plants for the Northeast The Eastern United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 3 through 7) only has one native hummingbird, the ruby-throated. They need a lot of food ...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When it comes to planting crops, or your backyard garden, there's hardly a more impactful factor than the weather. As weather patterns have shifted over time thanks to climate ...

The USDA cautions against using the plant hardiness zones, which are based on 30-year averages, as indicators for climate change. But gardeners say the maps reflect one of the ways they’re ...

NPR's A Martinez talks to Ashlie Thomas, author of How to Become a Gardener, about the map gardeners and farmers use to determine when and where plants will thrive — based on season and temperature.