State zones planting
United States Plant Zone Map
The USDA created a standard to which gardeners can use to determine which plants can survive in which locations. This data is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature divided into 10 degree Fahrenheit zones. This map was created in 2012 and is a great guide for gardeners to use to decide what plants they can grow and survive through the winter. The plant hardiness zones also determine whether a plant will be an annual or perennial in your area. Learn more about the difference between annuals vs perennials.
At Plant Addicts we do our best to list the most accurate data on each plant page. So make sure you look to see which zones a plant can grow in before ordering. You can bend the guidelines somewhat by planting in more sheltered areas, or if you live in a micro-climate. But we recommend using the plant growing zones as your guide to decide what to plant outside.
If you are unsure what growing zone you are in, you can enter in your zip code in the tool at the top right of the website and it will tell you. Or you can tell from the map below too.
First & Last Frost Date By Growing Zone
| Zone | Last Frost Date | First Frost Date |
| 1 | May 22 – June 4 | August 25-31 |
| 2 | May 15-22 | September 1-8 |
| 3 | May 1-16 | September 8-15 |
| 4 | April 24 – May 12 | September 21 – October 7 |
| 5 | April 7-30 | October 13 – October 21 |
| 6 | April 1-21 | October 17-31 |
| 7 | March 22 – April 3 | October 29 – November 15 |
| 8 | March 13-28 | November 7-28 |
| 9 | February 6-28 | November 25 – December 13 |
| 10-13 | No freeze | No freeze |
States in Growing Zone 1
Alaska
States in Growing Zone 2
Alaska
States in Growing Zone 3
Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming
States in Growing Zone 4
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine,Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
States in Growing Zone 5
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
States in Growing Zone 6
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
States in Growing Zone 7
Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
States in Growing Zone 8
Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington
States in Growing Zone 9
Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, TexasUtah, Washington
States in Growing Zone 10
Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Texas
States in Growing Zone 11
California, Florida, Hawaii
States in Growing Zone 12
Hawaii
States in Growing Zone 13
Hawaii
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What's Your Planting Zone? | USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
Know your zone! This is the first step to gardening.
By understanding your USDA Hardiness Zone or Canadian Planting Zone, you can choose plants that can survive and grow year after year in your area. We’ll explain what planting zones are all about, how to use this information, and links to the latest maps.
What Are Planting Zones?
Obviously, not every perennial, shrub, or tree grows and thrives in every climate. When choosing plants for your garden, it’s important to select varieties that can survive and thrive year-round in your area, especially in regions where extreme winter temperatures are normal. The plant must tolerate year-round conditions, such as the lowest and highest temperatures and the amount of rainfall.
The two most commonly referenced hardiness zone maps are those produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Natural Resources Canada (NRC). Different measures are used to create each country’s map, as explained below.
Note that planting zones are a guide, not absolute, especially if you live in a microclimate.
These are tiny “pockets” which most commonly occur in areas with steep elevation changes, a body of water, or urbanization. They may be warmer or cooler than the surrounding zone. Learn more about microclimates.
Find Your USDA Planting Zone
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on average annual minimum winter temperatures of each region and divided into thirteen distinct 10ºF zones, which are further divided into sub-zones of 5°F.
Most plants that you buy are marked with a hardiness zone number. The label will identify the zones in the U.S. where the plant can thrive.
The USDA map is color coded to make it even easier to see where your area falls. A sample map of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones is below. Click here to go directly to the USDA website and see a map of your state’s zones.
How to Use Your Planting Zone
Planting zones are most useful to gardeners growing perennial plants, since perennials are meant to live beyond just one growing season.
Perennials need to be able to survive winter in your area, so it’s important to know how cold it typically gets in your area and whether a particular plant is hardy enough to survive those temperatures.
Perennial flowers, shrubs, and trees grow best when planted in the appropriate zone. You’ll find that winter damage occurs most often when plants are out of their range or “comfort zone.” When you choose plants for a garden or landscape, avoid selecting plants that are only marginally hardy for your region; that’s when you’ll see winter damage, poor growth, and a reduction in flowering.
Planting native species is a surefire way to achieve a stable garden. Native plants are which occur naturally where you live! So, naturally, they will thrive in their habitat. See our article on natural landscaping.
For annual plants, like most vegetables and some flowers, it’s far more important to pay attention to things like the length of your growing season and the typical dates of your first and last frosts.
(See local frost dates here.) Because annuals are only meant to last the length of one growing season, planting zones don’t necessarily factor into the equation.
NRC Canadian Planting Zones Map
Unlike the USDA map, which is based only on minimum winter temperatures, the planting zones map produced by Natural Resources Canada (NRC) considers a wider range of climatic variables, including maximum temperatures and the length of the frost-free period. Because of this, the zones listed in the Canadian and US maps are not on the same scale, so keep that in mind before following one or the other!
NRC also produces a map that shows plant hardiness zones for Canada based on the USDA extreme minimum temperature approach. Click here to see Canadian planting zone maps.
Since some Canadians will buy plants from the U.S., it may also be helpful to understand how to use USDA zones in Canada. As rule of thumb, add one zone to the designated USDA zone. For example, USDA zone 4 is roughly comparable to zone 5 in Canada.
If you’re on the fence about a plant, always go one zone higher to be on the safe side and avoid disappointment!
Learn More
Another key part of successful gardening is knowing when your frost dates are. Find your local frost dates here.
What are your thoughts on planting zones? Are they accurate? Let us know in the comments below!
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2.014.01 SUSU scientists gave recommendations on planting greenery in Chelyabinsk
Formation of the Smart City concept does not stand still.
Scientists from the SUSU Institute of Natural and Exact Sciences assessed the scale of greening the urban environment and found out how it affects the improvement of air quality in Chelyabinsk. The results of the study were published in the highly rated scientific journal Biodiversitas. Journal of Biological Diversity" (Q1).
Harsh city, acute problem
Chelyabinsk is a typical Russian industrial city. Up to a third of days a year, the city experiences adverse weather conditions (NMC), when the probability of exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants in the air increases. The city has 8 fixed stations and several mobile laboratories for monitoring the state of atmospheric air. The most dangerous air pollutants are formaldehyde, hydrogen fluoride and nitrogen dioxide. Candidate of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Ecology and Chemical Technology, SUSU Tatyana Krupnova conducted a study and proved that urban landscaping reduces the negative impact of NMU and has a positive effect on the health of citizens.
« In our study, we assessed the relationship between the greening of the territory and air pollution near the stationary posts of environmental monitoring of the state of the air. The aim of our study was to improve understanding of the impact of urban land use and vegetation on air quality in Chelyabinsk. The analysis of the data obtained showed that the lowest levels of pollution are typical for areas with high greening coefficients ,” said Tatyana Krupnova.
This study is especially relevant in the light of the formation of the concept of the smart city of Chelyabinsk, including in the direction of creating an environmentally friendly urban environment.
A scientific approach to gardening
Air pollution is one of the most dangerous factors affecting human health. In industrial cities, there are many sources of air pollution, such as transport, industry, thermal power plants. It is well known that urban greening and urban forests can reduce air pollution, it can be said that urban greening is the lungs of cities.
But in this matter, a competent and intelligent approach is important.
« Landscaping forms the so-called urban-ecological framework of an urbanized area. According to modern ideas, the wrong choice of landscaping type can be not only useless, but also dangerous. For example, in urban settings, tall trees and large buildings form street canyons. In such canyons, formed by tall trees planted along highways, the concentration of air pollutants actually occurs, which becomes dangerous for the health of pedestrians. Choosing an effective city greening strategy is not an easy task ,” explained Tatyana Krupnova.
Chelyabinsk is a vivid example of the fact that traditional approaches to landscaping and evaluation of the effectiveness of landscaping do not work. So, on the territory of our city there are 14 urban forests and two forests, the specific coefficient of green area per capita is quite high. But this does not mean that the situation with the greening of the city is satisfactory, since the values of the coefficient vary greatly from district to district of the city.
The issue is especially acute in new areas under-provided with green spaces. The ecological framework has not been formed in the city, and a scientific approach to the choice of landscaping strategy is not applied.
It is necessary to systematically take care of the already existing landscaped areas, carefully choose such tree and plant cultures that can effectively neutralize harmful substances in the atmosphere. Provision should be made for the presence of special protective green areas near the enterprises that are the main sources of emissions, as well as green spaces along the main transport routes of the city.
Scientists point out that although urban greening is a win-win solution to the problem of air pollution, but, of course, the direct way to improve air quality in cities is to reduce industrial and transport emissions.
The authorities of Chelyabinsk have been implementing the Smart City project since 2019. The project provides for a number of measures aimed at improving the urban environment, public transport, and environmental conditions.
