Gardening Map Of Warming U.S. Has Plant Zones Moving North
It’s official: Gardeners and farmers can count on warmer weather. If that’s you, it might be a good time to rethink those flower and vegetable beds for this year’s growing season.
That’s the word from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which released a new version of its “Plant Hardiness Zone Map” this week, the first update since 1990. The color-coded zones on this map of the United States are widely used as a guide for what perennial flowers will survive in a particular area, or when to plant your vegetables.
Now the zones have shifted northward. The new map shows that in much of the country, winters aren’t as cold as they used to be, and spring planting comes earlier.
