In North Dakota - same extremes of weather as in Montana, it's next door neighbor - we had a wonderful garden. The season was considerably shorter than here in Florida but from April through to about Halloween it was glorious. My mother had over 80 roses, more iris', dozens of peonies, vegetables of every descriptions, a huge lilac hedge, other flowering shrubs, clematis, impatiens, begonias, apples and plums too. And all of it on a small urban lot! Because it's not a year-long process there and everyone gets a rest in the winter, many more people were into gardening in a big way. My neighborhood didn't have just one Crazy Garden Lady, it had 6 of them! Every morning from the time the snow melted enough to show a little dirt, they would walk around all of the yards to see if anything new had sprung up. Crocus and grape hyacinthe were first, of course - coming up right through the snow. The the tulips & daffs. Most exciting was the first peony eye showing and the first sign of growth on the roses. Usually when the roses were uncovered in the spring they already had some growth. Common attire was housecoats and waterproof boots in early spring, then moving to shorts, tshirts and tennis shoes for the summer. Finally, by late fall, everyone would be wearing light jackets as they went but they stayed with the morning coffee stroll until snow covered the ground. Then they spent all winter pouring over the seed catalogs planning what they were going to start in the spring. In the fall they moved many potted plants inside and started cuttings of some other tender plants. I remember a glass shelf in the kitchen covered with dozens of jars of cane begonia cuttings! Other types of begonia tubers were stored in straw in a dark basement room until spring. Kate

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

I have a few questions about Queen palms.Everything I've read on them says there only cold hardy in zone 9b or 10a.That's on diffrent websites,like Daves Garden and various others,but I've seen post on here where there growing them in Savannah,GA.and there only a half a zone warmer than I am.I think I remember even one where someone was growing one in Tennessee,with protection of course.Just how cold hardy are they?I read that you can protect them by wrapping just the trunk with lights and a tarp,it said dont worry about the fronds because they grow so fast,Does this sound possible or correct?If you use this method,would you want to cut the fronds off or leave them alone?If you cut the fronds off wouldent you want to cover the top of the trunk also in winter?Why im asking is because I as you know I have 2 of them planted in the ground and I think there one of the most tropical looking palms there is besides a coconut palm.Any advise will be helpful.

Actually, I just remembered a long time ago my friend had a California fan palm in his back yard, and it was grown locally from seed. I believe it was in the ground for quiet a few years and it was well established. It pulled through the winters unprotected, but his neighbor hood "code" made him cut it down because it still had the beard on it and even when pruned they still did not like it, he was not so happy about that. But I think I will be going with the California fan palm. Our winters are dry and it only gets really cold here for about 2 weeks until it starts to warm up. I'll give it a try!