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How do you know if you are Zone 6a or 6b?

16 years ago

I have seen plenty of USDA charts, but they just list Zone 6. I see other posters talking about 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, etc. Is there a more comprehensive chart somewhere? And how does 6a vs. 6b change what you can grow?

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newjersey_rose

16 years ago

I'm in 6b and can grow teas and chinas in a protected area. The winter winds get blocked by my house in the front yard so I plant my tender roses up against the house (heat from the house) and they do wonderful. I mound them up with mulch and they come through winter great.
Michael

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Comments (16)

diane_nj 6b/7a
16 years ago
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. For me, even though I am on the border of zones 6 & 7, I know from past experience that anything rated for zone 7 won't be hardy for me.
User
Original Author
16 years ago
I guess the 'ol eyes are aging, Diane. I can't even tell where my state is. So as a 6b/7a'er, you can't grow chinas, teas, or HTs that are winter tender?
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cincy_city_garden
16 years ago
Hey redsox,

Good chance you are 6a like me. I'm going to be trying some "hardier" Teas and Chinas this year (Lady Hillingdon and Hermosa). I've been told that even an a/b change can make a difference in survival for some the marginal roses for our zone. Mine will be against a wall, so I'm hoping for added protection. I also grow a number HTs with minimal protection.

The Teas and Chinas might die back to the ground here, but I'm getting own root plants, so if they do, I'll just have a smallish shrub every year, which is okay with me.

I say go for it.

Eric
diane_nj 6b/7a
16 years ago
Tiny huh? Try the one at the link below, that one is a close up on KY.

I haven't tried any chinas, the two teas I tried didn't make it and a couple of true zone 7 HTs didn't either. A friend 5 miles south who tried growing plants grafted on Fortuniana had OK success the first year, but lost them the second winter. Now, I know few folks in the NYC area (tivoli_rose and I think Maureen) are growing teas successfully. I'm not patient enough.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kentucky Hardiness Zones
User
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you, Diane. I'm 6a. I was hoping for 6b but that will probably happen in a few years. Maybe that's not so good.
paddlehikeva
16 years ago
Or try this one.

Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Hardiness Zone Finder
zack_lau z6 CT ARS Consulting Rosarian
16 years ago
The scientific method is to get a outdoor thermometers and record the low temperature for each day during the winter. I found that the thermometer five feet from our furnace chimney runs about 10 degrees warmer than the one in the back yard--it is a full zone warmer! The Lemon Meringue we planted there does just fine without winter protection.
User
Original Author
16 years ago
That second chart says 6b. So I guess I am Zone 6ab.
ronda_in_carolina
16 years ago
I recommend the zone denial route....

Just pick zone 7.

;o)

Ronda
diane_nj 6b/7a
16 years ago
Bad Ronda! ;-))
seil zone 6b MI
16 years ago
redsox, I had to laugh, I just did the same thing trying to find out if I'm 6 a or b and all the maps were so small I couldn't read any of them. Really someone has to make one of these for people who don't have 20/20 vision.

When I put my zip in the second link it said I was 5b and I know that's not right. I'm smack dab in the middle of that zone 6 chip on the southeastern side of MI. Besides I grow a lot of things that would not survive in zone 5 winters. I like Zack's idea. I do know that the back wall of my house is always way warmer than any other place in the yard.
triple_b
16 years ago
yes your yard can definitely have its own microclimate. Concrete wall, fences, trees. all these things can make a difference as can being up on a hill or down in a frost-pocket.
moodyblue
16 years ago
Redsox, I could be skimming here, but it still depends on your own micro climate. According to the map we are zone 8, but I am beginning to think we are zone 7 because of our microclimate. Other people in our vacinity are four weeks ahead in growth of anything that we are. We are very treed and a very damp lot with many springs and I think that brings us down a peg or two.:)
Pauline
Jean Marion (z6a Idaho)
16 years ago
Go back 10 years and think of the lowest temperature you have experienced at your home... We had a week of -9Âº several years ago... that puts me in zone 6a. Now last winter the weather didn't get below 9Âº which is zone 7b so all my roses did fine. But because it might get down to -9Âº and thereabouts at some point, I have to buy roses as if I am in zone 6...

Better safe than sorry... I do have several zone 7 roses, I try to plant them close to the house and not out in the middle of the yard...
Rose Star
2 years ago
Im in 6a and need some planting tips too. Right now p, I’ve just one rose bush with giant thorns that will get you when you try to get by it. 😲

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