Planting a Garden: Your Hardiness Zone

Plant hardiness zones will help you figure out which plants will thrive in your garden. The 10 zones in the United States and Canada are determined by the average annual minimum temperature and are separated by 10 degrees. (The map below does not include Zone 1, which encompasses the extreme northern parts of Canada and the interior of Alaska.) When you're shopping for your garden, plants should be labeled as to what zones they can survive in.






Find the best plants for your zone!

Here are some plants that thrive well in each zone, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

Zone 1
Average annual minimum temperature below -50 degrees

Betula glandulosa (dwarf birch)
Empetrum nigrum (black crowberry)
Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen)
Potentilla pensylvanica (Pennsylvania cinquefoil)
Rhododendron lapponicum (Lapland rhododendron)
Salix reticulata (netleaf willow)

Zone 2
Average annual minimum temperature -50 to -40 degrees

Betula papyrifera (paper birch)
Cornus canadensis (bunchberry)
Elaeagnus commutata (silverberry)
Larix laricina (eastern larch)
Dasiphora fruticosa (shrubby cinquefoil)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum (American cranberry-bush)

Zone 3
Average annual minimum temperature -40 to -30 degrees

Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian olive)
Hydrangea paniculata (panicle hydrangea)
Juniperus communis (common juniper)
Lonicera tatarica (Tatarian honeysuckle)
Malus baccata (Siberian crabapple)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Spiraea x vanhouttei (Van Houtte spirea)
Thuja occidentalis (American arborvitae)

Zone 4
Average annual minimum temperature -30 to -20 degrees

Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Juniperus chinensis (Chinese juniper)
Ligustrum obtusifolium subsp. suave (Amur privet)
Ligustrum vulgare (common privet)
Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Boston ivy)
Taxus cuspidata (Japanese yew)

Zone 5
Average annual minimum temperature -20 to -10 degrees

Acer palmatum (Japanese maple)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Cotoneaster microphyllus (small-leaf cotoneaster)
Deutzia gracilis (slender deutzia)
Euonymus fortunei (winter-creeper)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)

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Plants for growing in zones 6-10

Zone 6
Average annual minimum temperature -10 to 0 degrees

Buxus sempervirens (common boxwood)
Cedrus atlantica (Atlas cedar)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Ligustrum ovalifolium (California privet)
Prunus laurocerasus (cherry-laurel)
Taxus baccata (English yew)

Zone 7
Average annual minimum temperature 0 to 10 degrees

Acer macrophyllum (bigleaf maple)
Rhododendron Kurume Group (Kurume azalea)
Ilex aquifolium (English holly)

Zone 8
Average annual minimum temperature 10 to 20 degrees

Arbutus unedo (strawberry-tree)
Choisya ternata (Mexican orange)
Olearia x haastii (New Zealand daisy-bush)
Pittosporum tobira (Japanese pittosporum)
Viburnum tinus (laurustinus) 

Zone 9
Average annual minimum temperature 20 to 30 degrees

Asparagus setaceus (asparagus-fern)
Eucalyptus globulus (Tasmanian blue gum)
Fuchsia hybrids (fuchsia)
Grevillea robusta (silky-oak)
Schinus molle (California pepper-tree)
Syzygium paniculatum (Australian brush-cherry)

Zone 10
Average annual minimum temperature 30 to 40 degrees

Bougainvillea spectabilis (bougainvillea)
Cassia fistula (golden shower)
Corymbia citriodora (lemon-scented gum)
Ficus elastica (rubber plant)
Ensete ventricosum (Abyssinian-banana)
Roystonea regia (royal palm)

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