Subject: Re: climate zones

From: [email-masked] (Rick Bogren)
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 22:09:24 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> Jeremy Packer <[email-masked]> writes:
>From: Jeremy Packer <[email-masked]>
>Subject: climate zones
>Date: 23 Mar 1995 15:29:22 GMT

>Can some kind soul please enlighten a poor uk gardener what all these
>climate zone numbers mean. Here we only have one: not too cold in 
>winter and not too hot in summer.
>Thanks
>Jeremy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones are based on the average 
annual minimum temperature.  They're generally used to help determine 
whether or not a perennial will survive the winter.  The zones are as 
follows:

Zone 1   Below -50 degrees F.
Zone 2   -50 to -40
Zone 3   -40 to -30
Zone 4   -30 to -20
Zone 5   -20 to -10
Zone 6   -10 to 0
Zone 7     0 to +10
Zone 8    10 to 20
Zone 9    20 to 30
Zone 10   30 to 40
Zone 11   above 40 degrees F.

Hope this helps.

Rick

****************************************************************************
Rick Bogren                                      e-mail: [email-masked]
Media/Communications Specialist                  voice:  (217)333-9439
College of Agriculture
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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From: Karen Russell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 11:20:10 -0800

Sounds like Seattle, Zone 8.
Karen

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From: Jeremy Packer <[email-masked]>
Date: 23 Mar 1995 15:29:22 GMT

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From: [email-masked] (Patrick Burke)
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 17:05:41 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
>winter and not too hot in summer.

You'll probably get a lot of replies, so this will just be one of the
earlier ones.  As you are no doubt aware, the US is very large, and
it spans a wide variety of climates, from tropical (Florida and 
Hawaii) to arctic (Alaska and Minnesota (just kidding, all you
Minnesotans) - Minnesota is sub-arctic).  In an effort to organize
this vast and widely diverse area, the USDA organized it into "zones"
according to the average minimum temperature, which, while not
the only determinant of whether a plant will grow in a given area,
it is often the most absolute.  The scale goes from zone 1, arctic,
in central Canada and Alaska, through zone 10, in which, in an 
average year, will experience temperatures no lower than around
40-50 degrees Farenheit (Florida, Hawaii, etc.).

Within this "zone" system there will still be a great variation in
locales: both the deciduous forests of Upstate New York and the
dry plains of Kansas are in Zone 5, but the average minimum
temperature both places experience are similar.

If you have access to the WWW, you can see a map of the US
plant hardiness zones.  The URL is:
http://www.timeinc.com/vg/TimeLife/ZoneFinder/zoneinfo.html 

Hope this helps.

Patrick Burke
Social Sciences Computing
The University of Chicago

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From: [email-masked] (Gary L. Smith)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 22:11:28 +1000

>winter and not too hot in summer.

	Zone		Minumum Temperature (F.)
	____		________________________

	 3		-30 degrees to -40 degrees
	 4		-20 degrees to -30 degrees
	 5		-10 degrees to -20 degrees
	 6		  0 degrees to -10 degrees
	 7		  0 degrees to  10 degrees
	 8		 10 degrees to  20 degrees
	 9		 20 degrees to  30 degrees
	10 		 30 degrees to  40 degrees
	11	         40 degrees

As for the map of how these zones break down, you will have look at 
seed catalog such as Burpee. 

Gary L. Smith                 [email-masked]
Columbus, Ohio                [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Rick Bogren)
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 22:09:24 GMT

Hope this helps.

Rick

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From: Karen Russell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 11:20:10 -0800

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From: [email-masked] (Patrick Burke)
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 1995 17:05:41 GMT

Hope this helps.

Patrick Burke

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From: [email-masked] (Gary L. Smith)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 22:11:28 +1000

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From: [email-masked] (Christine Owens)
Date: 25 Mar 1995 15:41:24 GMT

>winter and not too hot in summer.

In North America, climate zones are based on how cold it gets
in winter.  It varies from -60 in some parts of Canada and
Alaska to never freezes in some parts of the south.

Chris Owens

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From: [email-masked] (OkieDeb)
Date: 25 Mar 1995 19:05:16 -0500

Most sources of plants/seeds in U.S.A. give info on plant based on zone,
i.e. not hardy north of zone 5, it will freeze to death, or doesn't
perform well south of zone 7 because it needs cold enough winter to go
dormant, etc.  Stuff like that.

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From: [email-masked] (Stephen Walton)
Date: 25 Mar 1995 21:04:44 -0800

In article <[email-masked]>,
Christine Owens <[email-masked]> wrote:

>>climate zone numbers mean.
>
>in winter.

The West Coast is substantially more complicated.  The Sunset Western
Garden book delineates more than 20 zones for the western US.  For
example, our area (California High Desert) may have the same average
minimum temperature as Zone 6 or 7, but only 14" average annual
rainfall and a tendency to hot dry winds and 100+ temperatures during
the summer.  This creates many different types of stresses than other
simple cold climate.  Sunset classifies us as Zone 11.

By the way, at least one professional landscape designer was quoted
in the LA Times to the effect that he'd have a lot less business if
everyone bought and read the Sunset Western Garden book.

Stephen & Pamela Walton (new posters)
-- 
Stephen Walton, California State University, Northridge
"Be careful what you wish for;  you might get it."	[email-masked]

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From: Emily Dashiell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 10:31:41 -0700

Climate zones refer to general areas of the U.S. which offer greatly
different growing potentials/needs.  For instance, you would need to
carefully protect geraniums here in the Northwest (my zone is 6 in the
Sunset Garden book), whereas in San Diego (zone 24) they are almost
considered weeds.  Where citrus grows abundantly and easily in Southern
California, my lemon tree is treated as a house plant (it lives outside 
in late spring/summer/early autumn, then winters inside).

Knowing one's zone will assist in selecting the best plant and providing 
the best opportunity for gardening success. 
                                                         Pogo was right..
                                                           [email-masked]
                                                           Emily Dashiell

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From: [email-masked] (Richard Campbell)
Date: 6 Apr 1995 20:09:45 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, Emily Dashiell <[email-masked]> writes:
|> Climate zones refer to general areas of the U.S. which offer greatly
|> different growing potentials/needs.  For instance, you would need to
|> carefully protect geraniums here in the Northwest (my zone is 6 in the
|> Sunset Garden book), whereas in San Diego (zone 24) they are almost
|> considered weeds.  Where citrus grows abundantly and easily in Southern
|> California, my lemon tree is treated as a house plant (it lives outside 
|> in late spring/summer/early autumn, then winters inside).
|> 
|> 
|> On 23 Mar 1995, Jeremy Packer wrote:
|> 
|> > Can some kind soul please enlighten a poor uk gardener what all these
|> > climate zone numbers mean. Here we only have one: not too cold in 
|> > winter and not too hot in summer.

   Emily's right about her zones but the Sunset Garden Book is limited to
the western United States.  The more accepted zoning system is the USDA
plant hardiness zone map.  It divides the entire country up along very generally
east-west lines that designate average annual minimum temperature of
each particular area in 10 degree Fahrenheit increments.  These zones are not
a solid pathway across the country but wander and are sometimes fragmented,
with vast zonal changes occuring especially around mountains, large lakes and
coastlines.  In fact, areas rated as one zone can be completely surrounded by a
different zone (e.g high mountain peaks in the Rockies rated at zone 3 within zone
4, when the main area of zone 3 is further north).  Zones numbers run from 1-11,
with zone 1 rated as below -50 F, zone 2 is -50 to -40 F, and so on ending with
zone 11 rated as 40 F and higher.

   The zones just provide a guideline for the adaptability of plants to certain areas.
Generally plants sold in the U.S. will be labeled as to which zones they are hardy
in (e.g. one plant may be labeled as zones 3-8).  This is not to say that some
gardeners don't use plants not specifically zoned for their area.  Many do and
just assume that they'll lose it, or resort to some measure of protection for the 
plant (e.g. covering plant or bringing it indoors)

   Hope this answers your question!

-- 
Rich Campbell
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Judith Rogow)
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 00:30:08 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] says:
>
>Christine Owens <[email-masked]> writes:
> 
>to find out what zone you are in I have a www address for you to access.  It
>has zone maps you can download to see where your state is.  Copy exactly as
>written:

I tried and TRIED and could not get into this site.
Do you know, off-hand, the zone for Ridgecrest, CA?
We are between Barstow and Bishop on Rte #395, also
known as the China Lake area.

Many thanks

-=JR=-

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From: [email-masked] (Kenneth Nilsson)
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 18:55:15 +0100

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Judith
Rogow) wrote:

. In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] says:
. >
. >Christine Owens <[email-masked]> writes:
. > 
>>winter and not too hot in summer.
. 
.>to find out what zone you are in I have a www address for you to access.  It
.>has zone maps you can download to see where your state is.  Copy exactly as
 >  http://www.timeinc.com/vg/TimeLife/ZoneFinder/zoneinfo.html
.> 
. 
 
 Many thanks
 
 -=JR=-

I did get into this site (but can't find any zones on UK so far) I did
find a USAD zone map and now have a black 'n white-hard-to-read map of the
zones in the States. I remember I copied the address above in "chunks",
first ....vg/   and then just TimeLife/ZoneFinder/zoneinfo.html. Not sure
i'll manage again but I'll try.
Somebody once, here on rec.g. talked about a zone map for Europe. Where
did you find that. Please post back!
I have a zone map of Europe in a book but I certainly can't mail that. But
might be able to tell your zone if you tell me exactly your location.

-- 
"A real gardener's fingers shouldn't be green but DIRTY"
Kenneth Nilsson
Stockholm
Sweden