Zone maps

[Jimbean]

[Jimbean]

my general impression of Louisiana:

[happ]

I'm having a problem trying to enlarge this USDA map. Zone 11 is in yellow & can be seen in areas [offshore islands & parts of LA basin & San Diego]. This, of-course, only applies to days below 40F\ 4.4C & isn't a clear interpretation of what kind of palms can be successfully grown. For example, cyrtostachys renda can be grown in south Florida in USDA 11 [and maybe 10b] but will not grow in southern California's zone 11.

[Ryland]

That first map, of Florida, is perhaps one of the best hardiness zone maps I have seen. Great detail, and the county lines are useful. Are there any like it for other states?

[velutina]

Las Vegas Zone 9a (ignore the arrow)

[Zeeth]

I'm having a problem trying to enlarge this USDA map. Zone 11 is in yellow & can be seen in areas [offshore islands & parts of LA basin & San Diego]. This, of-course, only applies to days below 40F\ 4.4C & isn't a clear interpretation of what kind of palms can be successfully grown. For example, cyrtostachys renda can be grown in south Florida in USDA 11 [and maybe 10b] but will not grow in southern California's zone 11.

Hmm... Those islands seem pretty far off shore... are they inhabited? Seems like they would be a good place to try out some of the more difficult palms.

[gsytch]

The zone map is ok, but tilted toward the Tampa Bay Gulf Coast. Even if you include this winter, the map has my area clearly in zone 9A, yet we have not seen 9A temps but once, in 1989, and in 1983, twice. This winter my low was 27F. Tampa was actually colder than New Port Richey and Brooksville was in zone 8B but usually is 9A - However, from what I have seen, Pinellas is not the tropical oasis it once was. There is bad damage all the way down. But, as a reference it is ok. The yellow that swings up from Pinellas should go up my county's gulf coast about 2 miles (much like 10B swings up Miami). Before this winter, I only had one night below 30F in 2000 (it was last winter at 28F) and one in the 90's (it was 28F in '96) Greg in still chilly cloudy New Port Richey

breezy, overcast 60's today...GOM temp 61F do the math!

[happ]

I'm having a problem trying to enlarge this USDA map. Zone 11 is in yellow & can be seen in areas [offshore islands & parts of LA basin & San Diego]. This, of-course, only applies to days below 40F\ 4.4C & isn't a clear interpretation of what kind of palms can be successfully grown. For example, cyrtostachys renda can be grown in south Florida in USDA 11 [and maybe 10b] but will not grow in southern California's zone 11.

Hmm... Those islands seem pretty far off shore... are they inhabited? Seems like they would be a good place to try out some of the more difficult palms.

Actually those off shore islands [Channel Islands] wouldn't be in any way hospitable to zone 11 palms. Due to strong wind & fog, the islands are way too cool for the most part. Because the islands are surrounded by water is the only reason they do not experience frost.

[Zeeth]

I'm having a problem trying to enlarge this USDA map. Zone 11 is in yellow & can be seen in areas [offshore islands & parts of LA basin & San Diego]. This, of-course, only applies to days below 40F\ 4.4C & isn't a clear interpretation of what kind of palms can be successfully grown. For example, cyrtostachys renda can be grown in south Florida in USDA 11 [and maybe 10b] but will not grow in southern California's zone 11.

Hmm... Those islands seem pretty far off shore... are they inhabited? Seems like they would be a good place to try out some of the more difficult palms.

Actually those off shore islands [Channel Islands] wouldn't be in any way hospitable to zone 11 palms. Due to strong wind & fog, the islands are way too cool for the most part. Because the islands are surrounded by water is the only reason they do not experience frost.

Hmm, very interesting. The exact opposite is true for off shore islands here, the islands are the best places for palms. Of course, the pacific and atlantic are apples and oranges

[Xenon]

Does anyone have a zone map for Texas?

-Jonathan

[CoconutFreak]

Does anyone have a hardiness map for Australia???

[Xenon]

My rough understanding of Texas...http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af155/Kylekoi55/HardinessZones-1.jpg

Edited March 16, 2010 by Xenon

[NBTX11]

My rough understanding of Texas...http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af155/Kylekoi55/HardinessZones-1.jpg

Can't see your post.

[NBTX11]

[Xenon]

Edited March 17, 2010 by Xenon

[tropical1]

I agree with gsytch about the map of Florida. My area in in the NW corner of hillsborough is clearly 9b. This winter we did not go below 27 and that is the coldest since 89. Even away from the lake we are not zone 9a. With the lake we are closer to 9b/10a border.

[Jimbean]

How big are the Brazilian pepper trees around that area?

If my memory serves me correctly (I did not take any notes for that part of Hillbourgh county), the indicators looked 9A. My maps are not based on averages. Please feel free to revise these maps, for they are for the community for advice for beginners.

[tropicbreeze]

CoconutFreak, here's a cold zone map for Australia.

AustraliaCZMap.pdf

[Jimbean]

That looks very good! Of course, never being in Australia, I don't know about the accuracy.

[chris78]

Here is one for Arizona... Phoenix area in now zone 10.... not so sure about that....

[spockvr6]

According to weather data this past winter, Tarpon Springs would classify as 10a. But, with the way all the foliage looks, it might as well be 9a. The sheer number of nights in the 30's (and many of those being in the lower half of the 30's) was brutal. This is what is hard for a map to show. Heck, I logged 39F just 10 nights ago!

[velutina]

[Zeeth]

How bout a detailed Hawaii one?

[Don]

USDA Hardiness Zone Map For Alabama

USDA Zone Number 1 2a 2b 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b 11 below

-50° -50° -45° -40° -35° -30° -25° -20° -15° -10° -5° +0° 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° 30° 35° 40° Annual Minimum Temperatures

Select A State United States Alaska Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusettes Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississppi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada NewYork Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming ==============

[Don]

I'm in Baldwin county zone 8B which is pink.

[tropical1]

Jimbeam

I dont know about brazillian peppers but I have two large Royals in my yard that are still kicking after this winter. One has been in the ground for more than 10 years. Granted these are on the lakefront but still 9a is out of the question. My Bismarckia has at least 6 foot of clear trunk.

[tropicbreeze]

Jimbean, the problem with the Australian one is that with the very low density of population there's also a low density of weather stations (WS). So the accuracy is good at the WS sites but with microclimates the gaps between the WS sites could vary. However that said, none of the country is subject to the extreme cold of most of the USA. The extreme coldest parts of the continent are in the highest mountains in the south east and they rate at about USDA 7. From there the rest ranges to what would be USDA 13 (if the USDA range went up that high) on Cape York, Cobourg Peninsula plus the Torres Strait and Tiwi Islands along the north coast.

[philinsydney]

We can't grow coconuts in Zone 10 here, but in Florida they can do it in Zone 9.

Damn!

[floridagrower]

Tallahassee and Gainesville proper are zone 9a. The strip along the gulf of mexico should be a good bit wider. The zone 9b region is much bigger than represented here. With these changes it would be a really good map.

Edited March 18, 2010 by floridagrower

[Eric in Orlando]

There should be more 9b in Orange Co. and along the coast to St. Augustine and maybe coastal Jacksonville. There are 10a pockets in Metro Orlando but that would be hard to represent except on a more enlarged map

[PalmatierMeg]

The FL zone map has me in Cape Coral as Zone 10b. Is that really true, esp. after this Jan. when lows fell below 30 at least once or twice? I've always been told/shown that I live in 10a.

[Jimbean]

Thanks for the input!!! I may adjust some areas.

PalmatierMeg: I am largly guestimating that most of Cape Coral is zone 10A, unless you live on the barrier islands (or maybe some other microclimate that is too small for me to represent).

[bubba]

It seems that Jim's map is quite good using the USDA criteria.That stated, Wrigphi identifies the inherent problem with the criteria with his statement identifying the ability of Floridians to grow Coconuts in Zone 9 when he cannot grow them in Zone 10.Echo Happ's confirmation of the inability of Ca. Zone 11/10b to grow Lipstick palms or Coconuts when it is done in Fl.at Zone 9. The USDA Zone arrangement has major issues.

Also have some issues with Veltuna's map, which shows a portion of Southern Louisiana to be Zone 10b and a large part of South Texas to be Zone 10b when half of Palm Beach County is Zone 9b?

[tropicbreeze]

Any system in inherently weak. Cold zone on its own isn't enough. Temperatures bottoming out at a certain level are one thing, it's also important how long those temperatures stay low. Heat zone and humidity are other important factors. Then if you think about it more, soil type/characteristics. There's quite a lot to take into consideration.

There was a separate zoning system for palms set up based on where certain species of palm would grow. If one particular species would grow then you would expect species X, Y and Z to grow there as well. This system also ran into problems.

[Kailua_Krish]

If we are going by average low temps I dont believe the Florida map is correct for Marion county (Ocala). Even with as bad as things were this year the absolute low for the weather station in SW Ocala was 20 degrees putting it in as a 9a. Yes there were temps in the mid/high teens in 89 but overall I would suggest that the plants being grown indicate a 9a average which is what I believe the map is supposed to show.

-Krishna

[displaced_floridian]

The FL zone map has me in Cape Coral as Zone 10b. Is that really true, esp. after this Jan. when lows fell below 30 at least once or twice? I've always been told/shown that I live in 10a.

Actually, it shows you in 10a. The red is 10a, yellow is 9b. The islands are shown as 10b, a very dark rust color.

BTW the lowest it got in Ft. Myers officially was 31 this past January.

displaced_floridian

[bubba]

Still believe some modified form of the Koppen classification does a better job of "what grows" than the USDA. The USDA's reliance on low temperatures does not consider the high heat necessity of most Tropical Palms and plants.

[JimStPete]

How exactly do they deterimine what zone you are in? I'd say that 90% of St Pete got into the upper 20's this winter which is definitely zone 9b. We freeze in the upper 20's without fail at least every 6-7 years. There is a very small sliver of St Pete (the southeast corner along tampa bay and of course the barrier islands) that are 1-2 degrees warmer during the cold snaps then the rest of St Pete but other than that, the rest of St Pete does get into the upper 20's every 6-7 years. I've lived here 20 years. We've hit the upper 20's for one night in each of the following years: 1989, 1996, 2003, 2010. Is the zone map saying that if 5 out of 6 years are zone 10a years, then you live in zone 10a?

[NBTX11]

How exactly do they deterimine what zone you are in? I'd say that 90% of St Pete got into the upper 20's this winter which is definitely zone 9b. We freeze in the upper 20's without fail at least every 6-7 years. There is a very small sliver of St Pete (the southeast corner along tampa bay and of course the barrier islands) that are 1-2 degrees warmer during the cold snaps then the rest of St Pete but other than that, the rest of St Pete does get into the upper 20's every 6-7 years. I've lived here 20 years. We've hit the upper 20's for one night in each of the following years: 1989, 1996, 2003, 2010. Is the zone map saying that if 5 out of 6 years are zone 10a years, then you live in zone 10a?

No, it's an average. Usually over 15 to 30 year increments. If you average a winter low of 32F over a 30 year period, you are in zone 10a. If it averages 29F, then it is 9b. Just because you drop to 29 one time, does not mean you are in zone 9b. That is a misconception for a lot of people. I average in the low 20s long term, zone 9a, but this winter it dropped to 8b, borderline 8a. Last winter, I had a 9b winter.

[NBTX11]

This map is far too conservative for North Texas. DFW is a zone 8a/b, trending 8b over last 25 yrs. This map shows them zone 7 (not a chance). Even in this brutal winter, DFW did not drop below low to mid teens. You have areas along the red river as zone 7a, that is far too cold for this area. They do not drop anywhere near 0-5F a vast, vast majority of winters. I know I used to live there. When I lived in Wichita falls for 5-6 years, we never had a zone 7a winter. Usually the low was in the teens (8a, 10-15F).

Edited March 19, 2010 by syersj