The new map, created by USDA's Agricultural Research Service and Oregon State University, is based on 30 years of data from 13,412 weather stations, almost twice as many as the old map.

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.

One of the major changes in this year’s edition of the hardiness map is the zone boundaries. The USDA states that the new zones are generally about one-quarter-zone warmer than reported in 2012 ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has updated its Plant Hardiness Zone Map — the first revision since 2012. It shows that Massachusetts is getting warmer, leading to more options for ...

Hardiness Zones 101. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map consists of 13 individual zones that take in all of the contiguous United States, plus Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

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 ...

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 map reflects the “average lowest winter temperature” over a 30-year period at specific locations in each of the zones, according to the USDA. Overall, that average for the country was 2.5 ...

Overall, the 2023 map is generally about one quarter-zone warmer than reported in the 2012 map throughout much of the United States, as a result of a more recent averaging period (1976-2005 vs ...

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 ...

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.