The USDA recently released a new growing zone map for the entire country. The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the guide gardeners use to determine what plants and flowers will most likely thrive in their location. This is the first significant update in more than 20 years. The new online interactive maptakes advantage of much more detailed data analysis, and it’s making news because it shows that warmer winters are sustaining plants that previously would have died off in colder climates.
Cathy Neal is a specialist in nursery and landscape horticulture with the UNH Cooperative Extension. She says the new map hasn’t changed all that much for New Hampshire- but it does offer a few surprises- and much more detail.
