The Zone...Which One Am I?

by Linda Swanson

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Good day to all and welcome to a new and exciting magazine. In this first article, I'd like to share some information about myself with you. I've been a gardener for over 40 years living in the Seattle area all my life. When you are born and raised in Seattle, people tease you that moss grows between your webbed toes.
Not true - but close! A standard joke is that people in Seattle don't tan they rust. When it hasn't rained here for several days, I get this uneasy feeling of panic..but let it rain and all is fresh and cool again.
I live on a small island in Puget Sound which is the body of water between Washington's Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. I must take a ferry back and forth to the mainland so it creates a very rural, lovely atmosphere.
It is not unheard of to have whales swim with the ferry during their migration travels. In thinking about what topic to discuss for this first article, I finally decided to begin at the beginning.
A great number of gardeners are confused by gardening zones. These are are the areas or boundaries of climate sections throughout the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the primary source that sets zones. As an example, the USDA lists my property in zone 8 which is based on the range of minimum temperatures during the year.
Now that's a misleading considering this winter Seattle had many days with minimum temperatures in the single digits. So they compile the statistics of highs and lows for the day, keeping track for a set number of years and have established the zones.
Some people believe these classifications are out of date or not specific enough which explains why several publications have created their own zones and sub zones.
You must remember that these are estimates and there will always be years or groups of years of weather oddities. The United States is amazingly varied in its zones with parts of Alaska in zone 1, which is below -50 degrees. Now that's cold! While other sections are zone 8 like me.
Some parts of Florida are zone 10, which is 40-50 degrees--that's mild. And other parts are zone 8 again. The zones run numerically from a low of 1 which is below -50 up to 11, which is 50-60 degrees. You are the best person to determine your zone. It takes time and observation to do this.
Try keeping track in a journal the highs and lows and weather conditions within your yard and you'll soon know what zone or combination of zones you have.
Generally, when deciding on a plant, I look one zone higher than me realizing that when I plant within my property, it will make the difference in it dying, just surviving or thriving as most yards have a combination of zones because of rises and dips in ground level, air flow and hard structures.
You can choose any plant rated for zones lower than you, but remember the cooler end of this scale has a purpose also. An example is tulips.
Growing tulips as a returning perennial in parts of Florida or Texas is difficult because they never have the cooling time bulbs need--that minimum low temperature for a specific time period to produce well.
On the reverse, growing a plant in the summer heat of the South that prefers the cooler summer will put it under stress and it may survive, but will never flourish as it should. So you see, zones are for minimums and there really should be zones for maximums also, but there aren't.
Zones are intended to assist you in picking the right plant for your conditions. Zones must be taken into consideration by all gardeners, just don't let zoning limit you as it is not the only piece of the puzzle. If you want to try to plant, go for it. Good gardeners get that way by learning from their mistakes.
I hope this information sheds some light on The Zone Which One Am I question...Happy Gardening
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Linda Swanson is owner of Vashon's Old Fashioned Nursery in Vashon Island, WA. She lives in Puget Sound, off Seattle, WA. She and her husband Rick and two children live on a 6 1/2 acre farm for 20 yeras. They have a horse, sheep, chickens, rabbits and lots of wildlife. Her main business is dahlia tubers (about 10,000) a year. Her secondary crop is gourmet garlic. She has been a master gardener for 10 yeras. Her customers come from mail order and various markets including the famous Pike Place Market in Seattle.