Ah, early spring! Or, as we know it here on Martha’s Vineyard, the Season of Intense Frustration. Quite routinely in early April, mainland Massachusetts will have sunny days with temperatures in the 60s or even 70s, while we languish under an overcast sky with temperatures 15 or even 20 degrees cooler. It just isn’t fair! […]
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If you re like me, you buy new perennials, trees and shrubs every year. Most plants sold locally are hardy, but not all. It’s good to know the “zone hardiness” of plants before you buy them, and how the zone maps work. In a nutshell, the colder the climatic zone, the lower the number.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created maps showing the climatic zones of all states and regions. They are based on many years of temperature records, and each zone is rated according to the coldest average temperatures. Summer temperatures are not considered in creating the hardiness zones.