Hardiness zones
Know your zone,
plant with confidence.
A hardiness zone tells you the average coldest temperature your garden sees in a typical winter. It's a rough guide — but a useful one — for which perennials, shrubs, and trees will survive a winter where you live.
How zones work
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map divides North America into thirteen primary zones, each ten degrees Fahrenheit apart. Zones are split into "a" and "b" halves, five degrees each. Lower numbers are colder; higher numbers are warmer. A plant rated "hardy to zone 5" should reliably overwinter in zone 5 and warmer.
Zones are based on average annual minimum winter temperature over a long historical window. They don't capture summer heat, rainfall, soil, microclimates, or unusual cold snaps — so treat your zone as a starting point, not a verdict.
How Garden Stride uses your zone
When you grant location access, we look up your zone from a coarse coordinate (city-level — we don't store an address). Your zone shapes:
- Which plants the library highlights as well-suited to your area.
- Default planting windows and last-frost timing for reminders.
- Warnings when you try to plant something that won't overwinter for you.
A rough cheat sheet
Approximate average minimum temperatures by zone:
- Zone 3: -40 to -30 °F — northern Plains, interior Alaska.
- Zone 5: -20 to -10 °F — much of the Midwest and Northeast.
- Zone 7: 0 to 10 °F — Mid-Atlantic, parts of the Pacific Northwest.
- Zone 9: 20 to 30 °F — coastal California, Gulf Coast, central Florida.
- Zone 11: 40 to 50 °F — South Florida, Hawaii.
When zones lie
A south-facing brick wall, a sheltered courtyard, or a low spot that pools cold air can all be a zone or two off from the broader map. Pay attention to your microclimate, keep a log, and adjust as you learn. Garden Stride's journal is built for that kind of season-over-season learning.
Zone data: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Reference only; always cross-check locally.
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