Woah woah woah! Never feel bummed! Take your successes and run with them, take your failures and learn from them. My first garden, I planted about 8 different kinds of seeds. You what I would up growing? Beans, and that was quite by accident! That year I even tried growing 2 indeterminate tomatoes in these tiny little containers with less then 1/2 a bag of soil each! (The coup de grâce was when I woke up one morning and all my beans looked like they had been in a fight with a weed whacker, covered with a layer of hail that looked like it had snowed). Then, the first time I tried starting seeds indoors, I killed every single transplant, except for 2 cabbages, because I didn't harden them off. You talk about naivety and feeling bummed? Holy cow, and we are only on year number one! It's been a while since then, though not nearly as long as a lot of people here (not that I'm calling them old or anything ;P) and now my failures are no longer as daunting. And believe me, there are quite a few of them, but I also have a lot more success, too. It's a learning thing, and the coolest part bout it is that there is always new learning! You never know it all because gardening is not one size fits all. You have to try new things, and try to improve old things to fit you, and your current situation. As for your seedlings in question: The good news is that if you loose any, you have time to redo darn near all of them. -I don't typically transplant onions, unless they are really crowded and/or I start them way too early. -Lettuce, I always direct seed. So, if your lettuce started indoors doesn't make it, you always have direct sewing as a back-up plan, and you wont be behind anyways. -The tomatoes, I wouldn't throw those ones out, but I would put in another batch of seed just in case. There is plenty of time for starting tomatoes yet. in fact, here in my zone 5 climate I don't start my tomato seeds until mid-late march, and I know a lot of folks around here who wait until April so, you'd be right on schedule if you popped some more in right now, or even if you waited a week or two. -The cabbage type plants, I'd also give it a couple weeks or so and then start some more seeds, just in case these ones don't make it or don't transplant very well. You are still at least 2 months out for your last expected frost, which is plenty of time to start another batch.

Bill, 6b isnt too bad, the data they collected included the major freezes of the 1980's so that probably lowered your zone from a 7a to a 6b. But winters like this year is what kind of evens things out a little bit since it has been a very mild winter! We got down to 13F here which actually is considered a pretty normal lowest temperature for the average mild winter, but the duration of warm weather this winter is something I haven't seen here in many years. I think that if you get colder than your zone more than 2 times in a decade, then you shouldn't be classified in that zone. After looking at NYC records, its clear that it does actually fit that definition as a zone 7b which I thought was suprising. And as for Miami, the city center definitely wont go below 35F so its a solid 10b. The more rural areas outside the city did get a freeze during that bitter 2010 cold spell, but the coastal areas of Miami only went down to the mid 30s. Florida seems like it got a bit colder with this new zone map, one of a few places that showed cooling with this zone map. But the major cities of Southeast Florida (Fort Lauderdale down to Miami and points south) is all a zone 10b now and in the 1990 map, only Miami was in a small pocket of zone 10b. No Problem Joey! Randy, I always thought that the USDA zone map should be taken as just a guide. It gives people a good idea of what kind of climate they have, and I think the zone maps are really intended for those gardeners that dont really know a lot about their climate. Gardeners like all of us are aware that the zones dont tell even half the story. Minimal temperatures during the winter are probably the most important factor for most plant's survival, especially in temperate climates, but its not the only factor. And once you get past zone 9a, I think that the duration of heat and freezes is a lot more important than minimal temperatures. Its the same reason why a zone 10b in Miami can grow a ton more tropicals than a zone 11 in Malibu! And a zone 7b in New York and a zone 7b in North Carolina are 2 totally different climates. You wont see live oaks and spanish moss lining streets here in NYC, but you might see something like that in a zone 7b in the southern states. And It seems to me like some areas are a bit more detailed than others with this map. I see a lot of detail from this map in my area, but Northern Florida and Georgia dont have as much detail it seems. For example, I would definitely consider Savannah Georgia and all of Coastal Georgia a zone 9a, but on this map about half of Georgia's coastline including Savannah is only a zone 8b. And I think that some of the more rural parts of Northern Florida are a bit too warm on this map. -Alex

Hi Island Breeze: That was a good analysis of zones. I personally belive MI to be generally 5b - 6b depending on location. I was probably quoting someone from MI if I ever said it was a zone 7 by the lakeshore. Clearly, outside of a rare microclimate MI is 6. Any part of MI that anyone said was a zone 7 along the lake, would be a low 7 at best and still require extra palm protection for a zone 6 for the rare nights that make record cold dips. Last year New York City had a low of 6* and that made that winter a 7b. However, our cold is prolonged compared to a more naturally southern 7b that breaks the cold snap must faster. Below normal temp winter outbrakes differ per location: southern outbrakes have "cold snaps 3 days or less " and us northerners have "cold spells-5, 10 even 15 days or more". Therefore zone 7b isn't 100% the same. Usually we are a 7, but have had many winters where I saw we were a 8 and one exception when we were 6b. Our northern winds are palm killers, so if we can just protect palms from wind and moisture freezing in the bud we can do well. Hope that clarified my viewpoint.

Trachycarpus fortunei is hardy to about zone 7b. I am in zone 7a/New Jersey. So, in an average year they will be okay unprotected next to the house. In 6b they are even riskier unless protected. Your objective is to keep excessive moisture out of the crown in the winter. You can buy various kinds of frost cloths or burlap it. You could also put some holiday lights under the cloth but be careful..., you don't want to COOK IT. Some of those lights (even the tiny ones) can get very hot, you'd be surprised! The good news, is that the BIGGER the palm is/becomes, the cold hardier it becomes..., so size matters! In an AVERAGE year you should be okay..., but those winters of arctic vortices took a toll for me and I lost a few unprotected ones. Last winter my "big boy" windmill (Japanese fan/Trachycarpus f.) sailed through a mild winter just fine. My winters are very unpredictable though and can range from subarctic to subtropical so my palms live on the edge of survivability. You might want to also consider some Sabal minors..., especially Sabal minor Louisiana. They are cold hardier than a Trachycarpus and all of mine came through even the worst winters unprotected. Buena suerte!