New Hardiness Zone Map Will Help U.S. Gardeners Keep Pace With Climate Change

[Elmira Telegram 285]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Southern staples like magnolia trees and camellias may now be able to grow without frost damage in once-frigid Boston. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ” plant hardiness zone map ” was updated Wednesday for the first time in a decade, and it shows the impact that climate change will have on gardens and yards across the country. 

Climate shifts aren’t even — the Midwest warmed more than the Southeast, for example. But the map will give new guidance to growers about which flowers, vegetables and shrubs are most likely to thrive in a particular region.

One key figure on the map is the lowest likely winter temperature in a given region, which is important for determining which plants may survive the season. It’s calculated by averaging the lowest winter temperatures of the past 30 years.

 

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