Hi everyone,
Okay, sometimes I am looking at bulbs or plants I might like to try. Okay, not sometimes, All-The-Time. Some sites say I am in zone 9b. Some say 8b. Why the differences? Hot is hot except when it's not.
Thanks,
Bonnie
Zonage Schmonage
USDA zones are determined by low temperatures, not high. A lot of the plants that nurseries sell in the low desert are not cold hardy, so they make it through the summer heat but get done in by a winter cold snap. I'm in Prescott, technically in zone 7 which has a low of 0 degrees, but have lost plants when we had prolonged or severe cold. So, now I look for plants that are hardy to minus 20 degrees, which is zone 5, and haven't had any problems with them. Even Chandler gets temps below freezing at times, which will do in anything that's very frost sensitive. That's when you hear about the citrus farmers out trying to keep the oranges warm. So go ahead and try anything that has a lower number than your zone, it will be hardier in the winter. Plants with a higher number might need frost protection when you have a cold snap. Hard to imagine in August, but it does happen!