The USDA has updated the geographic zones that help gardeners select plants that are suitable for their regions. Learn why the map changed—and whether your area was affected.

Heat domes, atmospheric rivers, bomb cyclones, and polar vortex—you’re not crazy, the weather is. And last week, the USDA confirmed it by releasing an updated climate zone map for 2023. For ...

For example, Seattle, Washington, and the city of Austin, Texas, are both in the USDA hardiness zone 9a because the map is a measure of the coldest temperature a plant can handle.

The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, displayed as 10-degree F zones ranging from zone 1 (coldest) to zone 13 (warmest), the USDA notes ...

The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, displayed as 10-degree F zones ranging from zone 1 (coldest) to zone 13 (warmest), the USDA notes ...

Compared to the 2012 map, the 2023 version shows that roughly half of the country shifted to the next warmer half zone, and the other half of U.S. remained in the same half zone.. According to the ...

The map is divided into full zones based on average yearly minimum winter temperatures, with each zone representing ranges of 10 degrees Fahrenheit and half zones of 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Boggs notes you can toggle between the 2012 and 2023 maps on the USDA's website. "There are dramatic changes," he says. There are 13 zones, each divided into A and B half zones.

How to use a USDA zone map to select plants Every plant is given a “zone rating” that defines how cold they’d willing to take. For example, most summer flowers will only survive a winter in ...

The USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map divides the country into 13 zones ranging from 1 (the arctic) to 13 (the tropics) to make it easier for gardeners to select plants that can survive the winter ...