It's not, at least according to the handful of sources I checked. But if she means this past winter, 6b was probably more like 8a and with a little microclimate (brick porch?) effect, the plant felt 9a, it's supposed lowest hardy zone. A lot of the success of zone-pushing or oddities seems to be reliant on drainage, which would be at its' max in a pot on a porch, as far as locations go. This is a good example of how an experience with too much cold can put a plant that would never normally go dormant when kept as a house plant into dormancy. It's always worth giving those plants a 2nd chance to see if the entire life was snuffed out or just the foliage. Also, regarding zones and perennials in the ground, one can often have a plant survive, even for a few years in "the wrong zone" before it is truly frozen one year, but most plants in this unique condition never perform as well as they could in a more proper location. They struggle harder than they're supposed to. Zone guidelines are used for reasonable expectations based on years of experience, not unique or temporary occurrences.

We have loads of chickadees, we love them. Right now there are lots of nuthatches, bluejays and woodpeckers. I do put food out all winter, though mostly for the tiny red squirrels and the occassional sleepy chipmunk looking for a snack. I come from the land of huge gray squirrels, but even my mom likes these. And they only have so much territory. The bluejays can go to the next yard. I do wish a cardinal or two would visit. I'm working on getting the place covered w/critter friendly plants.

I purchase some pumpkin plants at my local nursery for a $1. I have no idea what type they are, I just thought it would be fun for my grandson to grow his own pumpkins for Halloween. So far they seem to be doing ok. I've been researching about care for them and discovered I have too many in the pot. How can I thin them out without killing them? I have 2 containers of them, just not sure how to proceed. Im only looking to get a few pumpkins overall. POT#1 POT#2 Its been pretty humid here and I noticed the leaves are getting the powdery mildew. I will be spraying them with the baking soda and water mixture today. Thanks in advance for any advice :)

There is a reason that squash usually produce male flowers earlier than females (but not always!) Pretty smart plants. Female flowers are more energy and nutrient-intensive for the plant to produce. There's a lot of effort that goes into making that ovary fruitlet. So it throws out male flowers first, to attract pollinators. Then it's worth the extra effort to make female flowers once those pollinators know that things are cooking. Of course, with hand pollination, all you need is ONE male flower if you have female flowers.