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Northwestern Gardening

What zone am I?

16 years ago

I posted this as a follow-up to my original message about Kitsap County, but I'm not sure it will be seen there. I'm totally confused because I thought I was in zone 5 (that's what it says in my Sunset book), but I'm seeing zone 8 for some Kitsap gardeners. Help!

Eileen in Poulsbo, WA

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Comments (4)

buyorsell888
16 years ago
Sunset zones and USDA zones are different.

Frankly, the Sunset zones are much more detailed and accurate and take heat into account rather than just frost but the USDA zones are nationwide and more well known outside of the West.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
16 years ago
And one rarely finds growers that tag their plants with anything BUT the USDA hardiness info - even Monrovia, the largest plant grower/wholesaler in the country and based in California adheres only to the USDA zones. So if you follow the Sunset zonal info, that means you have to haul around your trusty copy of the Western Garden Book to crosscheck the suitability of any potential plant purchases. And Sunset also tends to be overly conservative in their hardiness ratings as well.
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I agree with Joe that you're in Sunset zone 18. If you don't have a Sunset Western Garden Book, you should get one! :) You're also in the even less specific USDA zone 9. Brenda
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It varies a lot here because there are so many different microclimates in the area. For permanent landscape plants, you can plan on a range from zones 5 to 7 depending on where you're located, aspect, slope, wind exposure, etc. Most of the nurseries (the local ones, not the big box stores) stock plants that tend to do well, if you plant them in the right location. For example, I've seen many plants that are marginal for zone 7 do well here in a sheltered area where the winter lows are mitigated somewhat. When in doubt, ask. They ought to be able to tell you more. The sunset western garden book is a good place to start, but it doesn't hurt to walk around your neighborhood and notice what plants are doing well and where. Also take a stroll through the arboretum for inspiration. The UNR cooperative extension (http://www.unce.unr.edu/) has loads of searchable publications on landscaping, gardening (including vegetable gardening), and agriculture in general. They also host the Master Gardeners, who can help you diagnose and advise you how to treat plant problems.
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I received the McClure & Zimmerman catalog today. It has the Floradapt Hardiness Zone Map included on page 4. It is in very small print though but ok to use. When people ask me what zone I am in, I always say 6 but borderline 5. I realize my planting success seems closer to zone 5 results, especially if we have a harsh winter with those nice ice storme we get. My observation of the Floradapt map is that it puts me right into zone 5. Since I was interested, I looked up the info onlie about the map differences: "Rutgers and Floradapt Plant Hardiness Maps These maps are based on winter-cold isotherms. The Rutgers Plant Hardiness Map, Zones of the United States and Canada (Cook College, Rutgers, Martin Hall, P.O. Box 231, New Brunswick, NJ 08903; $7), has 26 zones based on absolute recorded minimum temperatures. To its credit, the Rutgers map divides the United States into 13 climates east of the 100th meridian, and 13 different ones west of it. Despite the usefulness of this map to gardeners, it's rarely used. Likewise the Floradapt Map (by John Sabuco and the White Oak Group, Inc., 320 202nd St., Chicago Heights, IL 60411). It is a 10-zone, USDA-like map of 10Â° F increments overlaid with lines and symbols that refine zone descriptions." http://www.garden.org/subchannels/flowers/perennials?q=show&id=44&page=3 Perhaps from what people are saying here, it is a more useful map? This site also mentions some different zone maps(the heat zone map for instance). I cannot find a copy of the Floradapt or Rutgers map online, but it is nice to at least see the copy on page 4 of my gardening book. Three cheers for the catalog! :) Here is a link that might be useful: Rutgers and Floradapt Plant Hardiness Maps Descrptions
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Nmfruit, there's a definite art to covering plants around here I see a lot of people do it. Although I don't have a lot of experience gardening, I think this area is not too bad partially because of the high humidity year round. I notice we don't get rapid fluctuations in extremes in temperature. My garden plot is at the foot of some small mountains, so I was shocked when I go up at night to garden how different the air feels there then outside my house. Sometimes there's a thick fog as well coming down. The Eureka lemon I mentioned was very interesting. I have a black 500 L water tank I put directly behind the tree. I then took two old windows to form a triangle on the front. I covered the open top with frost cloth. My idea it was that the tank would absorb sunlight, and radiate the energy at night. It would also create a freezing buffer, as water takes a lot of energy to turn into ice. I left the tree top open to allow rain, but mainly to allow excess heat to escape during sunny days as I didn't want the citrus to break dormancy. My idea is to have citrus survive and do well with no costly electricity or hassle. I saw pictures in a report from a guy in zone 6 I think who was able to have fruiting citrus by creating for walls out of clearwater tanks and putting an old window over the top. It never went below freezing inside of the enclosure, despite getting to 18 below or something outside.
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beckbunch
Original Author
16 years ago
So when I look at plant tags that say hardy to zone 6 or 7, does that work for me? Is it better to stick with things that will be fine for zone 5? I'm still confused on this. I didn't know there were 2 different zone guides. That's not nice to do to beginners!

Eileen
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
16 years ago
IMO, if you live in the Puget Sound basin or the areas immediately surrounding the Sound (between the Olympics and the Cascades) just forget about the Sunset zones :-) They are unnecessarily confusing since few plant tags ever refer to them and there is very little distinction in the overall growing climate in this area. Closer to the water will be milder and may have more beneficial microclimates and higher into the foothills will make the climate a slight bit more extreme but not enough to make a huge impact.

So go with your USDA zone, which is 8. You are pretty safe selecting anything with a hardiness zone of 7 or below. Those plants listed with a hardiness zone of 8 may prove to be a bit marginal and how well they do may be more of a trial and error process until you get the feel for your specific garden conditions. However, you will read many posts by gardeners in this area that grow plants that are not supposed to be reliably hardy here but nonetheless thrive for years.

FWIW, USDA zone 8 is considered to be a very mild climate zone and encompasses a huge range of plants - the vast majority of plants you will encounter at area nurseries will be more than suitable for growing in this area so you are not very limited by hardiness factors.

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