Garden Zone Guide: Find Your Zone and What Will Grow
What zone am I in, and what can I grow there? Type your ZIP code below. You'll get your hardiness zone, the flowers, shrubs and porch pots from our articles that come back where you live, and a few jobs for this month. Your zone is a number, usually from 3 to 10, and it comes from how cold your winter gets.
Find your zone
What a zone tells you
A hardiness zone is about one thing: how cold winter gets. Each zone is a ten-degree band for the coldest night in an average winter, and the half zones, A and B, split that band in two. Zone 7 runs from 0 to 10°F. Zone 5 runs from minus 20 to minus 10°F. The higher the number, the milder the winter.
When a plant is tagged for zones 4 to 8, it is expected to come back through winters from zone 4 to zone 8. Outside that range it is a gamble, so this guide only shows plants rated for your zone.
What it does not tell you
A zone doesn’t say when your first or last frost lands. That comes from your own frost dates, and two places in the same zone can be weeks apart. So the monthly jobs here are timed from your frost dates, or they are true wherever you live. Frost dates, not your zone shows how to find yours.
Pots are colder than the ground
A zone is figured for a plant growing in the ground. A pot sits in the air, so its roots can get as cold as the air does. The safe rule is to plan for pots as if you lived two zones colder, use a big pot, and give it some cover. Bury it, group it with other pots against the house, or move it into an unheated garage. The plant cards tell you which of your pots can stay out.
How we picked the plants
These are the outdoor plants our garden articles already cover, from cottage perennials and shade corners to hanging baskets and mailbox beds. Zones and light come from a botanical garden’s plant database, and each card links to the details. When a card says a plant is good in pots, one of our articles shows it growing in one.
If your ZIP code doesn’t work
Some ZIP codes, such as PO boxes and newer ones, aren’t in the zone data. Pick your zone from the list instead. If you live near a zone line, read both cards. Anything rated for the colder zone will be fine, and the warmer zone’s plants are worth a try with some winter cover.
Pick your zone from the list
No ZIP code handy? Find the winter low that matches yours and jump to that zone. Zone 3 is the coldest here, zone 10 the mildest. A or B after the number is just the colder or warmer half of the zone.
- Zone 3 -40 to -30°F
- Zone 4 -30 to -20°F
- Zone 5 -20 to -10°F
- Zone 6 -10 to 0°F
- Zone 7 0 to 10°F
- Zone 8 10 to 20°F
- Zone 9 20 to 30°F
- Zone 10 30 to 40°F
Zone 3
Coldest night in an average winter: -40 to -30°F
Very cold winters. Choose perennials rated for zone 3, and expect to move porch pots into a garage or bury them in the ground.
Zone 4
Coldest night in an average winter: -30 to -20°F
Cold winters. Perennials rated for zone 4 or colder come back in the ground. Porch pots of perennials need a garage, a shed or a hole in the ground for winter.
Zone 5
Coldest night in an average winter: -20 to -10°F
Cold winters, and the classic cottage perennials come back. Porch pots of perennials need real help: group them against the house, mulch them, or sink them in the ground.
Zone 6
Coldest night in an average winter: -10 to 0°F
Cold enough to matter, but every hardy perennial in this guide is rated for zone 6. A pot of perennials still needs winter cover, so look for plants rated for zone 4 or colder to leave in a pot.
Zone 7
Coldest night in an average winter: 0 to 10°F
A middle-of-the-road winter, and every hardy perennial in this guide is rated for it. Pots can stay out with cover if the plant is rated for zone 5 or colder.
Zone 8
Coldest night in an average winter: 10 to 20°F
Milder winters, and every hardy perennial in this guide is rated for zone 8. Pots can stay out with a little cover if the plant is rated for zone 6 or colder. Summer pots such as petunias and geraniums still don't survive winter.
Zone 9
Coldest night in an average winter: 20 to 30°F
Short, light freezes, and the plant list gets shorter: coneflower, lavender and hosta are listed only to zone 8. Geraniums, coleus, lantana and petunias aren't rated for zone 9 winters either, so cover them on freezing nights or treat them as annuals.
Zone 10
Coldest night in an average winter: 30 to 40°F
Winter rarely stays below freezing for long. Lantana, geraniums, coleus and petunias are rated for zone 10 and can stay out. Plants listed only to zone 8 or 9, such as hostas and tulips, are poor bets and aren't shown.
A pot is colder than the ground. Plan for plants in above-ground pots as if you lived two zones colder, use big pots, and give them some protection.
Every plant in this guide
These are the outdoor plants our garden articles cover. The zone range is where the plant comes back through winter in the ground. Annuals and frost-tender plants are replanted each spring in colder zones.
Garden jobs by month
Your zone tells you how cold winter gets. It does not tell you when frost arrives. Jobs here are timed from your own frost dates, or they are true wherever you live. Find your frost dates.
January
- Protect Look in on pots you are storing in a garage or shed. Water only if the soil is dry, because soggy soil can rot roots. For pots stored for winter.
- Enjoy Leave coneflower, black-eyed Susan and grass seed heads standing. Birds work over them all winter. Bird-Friendly Fall Garden: What to Cut and Leave
- Protect Move empty clay and glazed pots under cover. Left out in freezing weather, they can crack. Anywhere winter freezes.
- Enjoy Pick one corner to change this year. Note how much sun it gets, then choose from the plants below.
February
- Prune Cut back panicle and smooth hydrangeas. They bloom on the growth they make this year. Bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas wait until after they flower. Late winter or early spring, just before new growth starts.
- Protect Watch for frost and freeze warnings. On those nights, cover or move tender pots. First Frost Checklist for Pots and Small Gardens
- Plant Starting seeds indoors? Count back from your own last spring frost date, using the weeks on the seed packet. Counted from your last spring frost. What to Plant This Month: Frost Dates, Not Your Zone
- Enjoy Clean and sharpen pruners and trowels while it's too early to garden.
March
- Tidy Hold off on the big cleanup until warm weather has settled in. Insects spend the winter in stems and leaf litter. Wait for steady warm weather.
- Protect Take winter mulch and pot wraps off gradually, so plants have time to adjust.
- Plant Check the soil temperature before you sow. A cheap soil thermometer beats the calendar. What to Plant This Month: Frost Dates, Not Your Zone
April
- Protect Keep tender plants in until your last spring frost has passed. Add two weeks to your average date to be safe. After your last spring frost, plus two weeks. What to Plant This Month: Frost Dates, Not Your Zone
- Plant Harden off anything you started indoors: a shady, sheltered spot first, then a little more sun each day for several days. Before planting out.
- Tidy Cut back last year's stems once insects have had time to come out and the weather is warm. After steady warm weather.
- Prune Bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas: leave the pruners alone until after they flower. They set next year's blooms on old wood.
May
- Plant Once frost danger has passed, set out petunias, geraniums, coleus, begonias and sweet potato vine. All of them are frost-tender. After your last spring frost, plus two weeks for tender plants. 8 Hanging Baskets That Bloom All Summer in Hot Sun
- Protect Keep an old sheet by the door. If a late frost warning is issued, cover new plantings overnight.
- Plant Feed new pots: slow-release fertilizer at planting (it may need a second dose mid-season), or a water-soluble feed every 1 to 3 weeks through the summer.
- Enjoy Sit outside for ten minutes before you decide what the garden needs.
June
- Protect Check pots every day. Water when the mix is dry an inch or two down. Small pots in hot, windy weather may need water once or twice a day.
- Tidy Pinch off spent flowers on annuals to keep them blooming.
- Prune Bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas: if they need a trim, do it as soon as the flowers fade. When the blooms fade.
- Enjoy Light the string lights and notice which corner you actually use.
July
- Protect Keep checking pots daily, especially in heat and wind. A pot that dries out completely can sit in a tub of water for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Plant Feed pots on schedule. Plants in containers use up their nutrients quickly.
- Prune Pinch back tall, leggy plants in pots to get fresh growth and more flowers.
- Enjoy Take a photo of your garden at its fullest. Note the gaps for fall planting.
August
- Protect Keep checking pots daily and feeding them. By September, pots can start to look overgrown.
- Prune Replace plants that have outgrown their pot, and pinch back leggy ones.
- Plant Let a few zinnias and other non-hybrid flowers go to seed, then save the seed for next year. Seed Saving 101: Save Zinnia Seeds for Next Year
- Enjoy Cut a bunch of flowers for the table.
September
- Protect Start watching for frost about two weeks before your average first fall frost date. About two weeks before your average first fall frost. What to Plant This Month: Frost Dates, Not Your Zone
- Plant Plant spring bulbs while the soil is still workable, early enough for roots to grow before the ground freezes. Before the ground freezes. When to Plant Spring Bulbs Before the Ground Freezes
- Plant Fall is a good time to add late bloomers such as asters and sages, and to plant shrubs.
- Protect Decide what each pot will do for winter: move in, bury, or group and mulch. For above-ground pots, plan as if you lived two zones colder.
October
- Protect Cover or move tender plants on any night a frost warning is issued. Nights with a frost warning. First Frost Checklist for Pots and Small Gardens
- Bring inside If frost reaches you, bring in tender pots such as geraniums, coleus, begonias, lantana and sweet potato vine, or let them go as annuals. Before your first fall frost.
- Protect Water evergreens and pots well before the soil freezes. Before the ground freezes.
- Tidy Leave seed heads for the birds. Bag and bin diseased stems and leaves instead of composting them. Bird-Friendly Fall Garden: What to Cut and Leave
November
- Protect Mulch perennials and bulb beds as soon as the soil begins to freeze. It stops plants heaving out of the ground in freeze and thaw. As soon as the soil begins to freeze.
- Protect Group potted perennials in a sheltered spot, water them well, and cover them with straw, shredded leaves or bark. Or bury the pots in the ground. Before the soil freezes.
- Bring inside If your ground freezes, dig up tender bulbs such as dahlias, cannas and caladiums, and store them where they won't freeze. Where the ground freezes.
- Enjoy Keep a bird bath from freezing over, so there is water for the birds. Keep a Bird Bath From Freezing Without Electricity
December
- Protect Check the soil in stored pots now and then. Dry soil freezes faster than moist soil, but don't overwater.
- Protect Haven't mulched yet? Do it after the soil has frozen. Mulch can go right on top of snow. Once the soil has frozen.
- Enjoy Fill empty window boxes with cut evergreen boughs and twigs. Fall Window Box Ideas After Frost: 7 Options
The ZIP lookup uses a free service built on the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. It is not the official map, and one ZIP code can cover more than one zone. If it matters, check the official USDA map.