Will This Plant Grow At My House

If your asking yourself "will this plant grow at my house?" Well I have the answer for

you, but first we have to look back at the basics which is to find out your hardiness zone in your area. The Hardiness Zone Map shows Horticulturalists, and gardeners which plants or crops with grow and thrive at a specific location, this mostly depends on the regular and consistent temperature and weather. 

As a Gardener or Horticulturalists, when we refer to the term "hardiness" or "hardy" we are simply referring to the likelihood or the plants ability to withstand winter temperatures and come back the following spring. if a plant is hardy, it means if that specific plant has the ability to endure cold temperatures (as average in your area) without harming or killing the plant. This plant being able to endure cold temperatures would able to endure cold temperatures would be considered a perennial plant as it would over winter and then come back again. Compared to a plant that is not hardy in your location it cannot withstand the cold temperatures in your area, and would die if placed in that cold temperature environment. Therefore, these plants would be annuals, only being able to complete one life cycle during the warmer months 

Once you visit the USDA site and enter in your zip code, a zone code will be given to you. This code indicates that based on your location this is the “reference number” for the hardiness of plants in your area. For example Adams County, Pennsylvania is in zone 6b. The key on the USDA hardiness zone map further explains that the lowest temperatures in zone 6b range from -5 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit on average. This information tells me that perennial plants (plants that I want to come back each year) must be able to withstand -5 degree Fahrenheit weather. But how do I know which plants can handle -5 degree Fahrenheit weather? Well, when you look at a plant label such as the one below, you will see that the label has a Zone range indicated on it.

in this example a Knock Out Rose bush is able to be planted in zones 4-10. So our zone 6b is within this zone. Therefore the Knock Out Rose bush is able to withstand the -5 degree temperatures of our area.  When selecting plants, select plants that have a zone range that your zone location falls within. Or select a zone that is the same as or less than your zone. For example, I may also plant a plant that has a tag that says zone 4 hardy, in my zone 6b. To see if your plant will survive and grow at your house you will have to go to the official USDA Plant Hardiness zone Map https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ and from this website you’d have to put in your zip code and it’ll show you your regular temperatures, and from then you can see if your plants can withstand your temperatures.

As I mentioned before Adams county is in the zone 6b but what does that mean? There are two letters that correspond with the number zones which is “A and B.” “A and B” are used to further divide each zone. “A” tells us that the zone it corresponds with is more likely to see the lowest coldest temperature on the zone map spectrum. “B” tells us that the zone B corresponds with is more likely to stay on the higher (warmer) end of the zone spectrum.