Every plant has a winter it can survive. Find your USDA hardiness zone in one tap and see exactly which vegetables, fruits, trees and flowers will thrive in your climate — and which won't.
Detect your hardiness zone automatically using your device location, or select a zone manually below.
Ideal Plants (731) · Greenhouse Possible (59)
Solanum lycopersicum
Capsicum annuum
Cucumis sativus
Cucurbita pepo
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Lactuca sativa
Spinacia oleracea
Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
Brassica oleracea var. italica
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis
Brassica oleracea var. capitata
Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera
See all 731 plants for Zone 6
The map
Pan, zoom and click anywhere on our 2.5 km hardiness map. Switch between the zones and the data source behind each region.
The data
Our zones are built from eight authoritative climate datasets and 100 million grid cells.
How many of our plants thrive in each hardiness zone.
Share of mapped land that falls in each zone.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard used by gardeners and growers to determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a given location. The map divides North America (and can be applied globally) into 13 zones based on the average annual minimum winter temperature.
Each zone represents a 10-degree Fahrenheit (approximately 5.5-degree Celsius) range, further divided into "a" (colder half) and "b" (warmer half) sub-zones. Knowing your zone helps you select perennials, trees, and shrubs that can survive your winters, and plan annual planting schedules effectively.
While hardiness zones focus on cold tolerance, successful gardening also depends on heat tolerance, rainfall patterns, soil type, and microclimates within your property. Use zone data as a starting point, then adjust based on your local conditions.
Methodology
Your zone isn't guesswork. We combine high-resolution climate data with 30-year temperature normals, downscale it to a 2.5 km grid, and calibrate every region against ground-truth winter records.
2.5 km
grid resolution
44M
land cells classified
99%
within 2 half-zones
Independently validated to 53% exact and 99% within two half-zones of official records (mean error 1.67 °C) — among the most precise worldwide hardiness maps you'll find.
Your garden may contain several microclimates within a small area. South-facing walls absorb and radiate heat, creating warmer pockets. Low-lying areas collect cold air and frost. Mapping these differences lets you push the boundaries of your official zone by placing tender plants in protected spots.
Cold frames, row covers, and cloches can effectively move your garden one full zone warmer. A simple cold frame over a raised bed can let you start planting weeks earlier in spring and harvest well into winter, even in zones 4 and 5.
Cities are typically warmer than surrounding rural areas due to heat absorbed by concrete, asphalt, and buildings. Urban gardeners may find they can grow plants rated for one zone warmer than their official designation suggests.
Temperature drops roughly 1°C for every 150 meters of elevation gain. A garden on a hillside may be a full zone colder than one in the valley below, even if they share the same official zone designation on a broad-scale map.
The zones
Click any zone to see which plants from our database are suitable.
Arctic
< -45.6 °C · < -50 °F
Zone 1 is the planet's harshest growing climate, with winter lows below −51 °C across the high Arctic and interior Alaska. Only the toughest native shrubs, mosses and a handful of ultra-hardy berries survive here, almost always with snow cover or a greenhouse.
Subarctic
-45.6 to -40 °C · -50 to -40 °F
Zone 2 covers the subarctic, where winters bottom out between −46 and −40 °C. The season is short but real — cold-hardy greens, rhubarb, hardy currants and fast radishes can finish before the freeze with row cover and a sheltered spot.
Far north
-40 to -34.4 °C · -40 to -30 °F
Zone 3 spans the far north of Canada, Scandinavia and Siberia, with lows of −40 to −34 °C. Gardeners grow brassicas, peas, potatoes, hardy apples and berries by starting seeds indoors and choosing the quickest-maturing varieties.
Cold continental
-34.4 to -28.9 °C · -30 to -20 °F
Zone 4 has cold continental winters from −34 to −29 °C but a dependable summer. Most cool-season vegetables, many berries and hardy fruit trees like apples and plums thrive, especially with mulch to protect roots through winter.
Cold temperate
-28.9 to -23.3 °C · -20 to -10 °F
Zone 5 is a sweet spot for northern gardeners, with winter lows of −29 to −23 °C. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, grapes and a wide range of perennials and fruit trees all do well across a generous growing season.
Cool temperate
-23.3 to -17.8 °C · -10 to 0 °F
Zone 6 offers cool-temperate winters around −23 to −18 °C and a long season that suits almost everything — from heat-loving tomatoes and melons to figs, hardy kiwis and a huge palette of perennials and fruit.
Mild temperate
-17.8 to -12.2 °C · 0 to 10 °F
Zone 7 enjoys mild winters that rarely fall below −18 °C, opening the door to overwintering hardy greens, garlic and many perennials outdoors. Vegetables, fruit trees and even some tender crops thrive with the extra-long season.
Warm temperate
-12.2 to -6.7 °C · 10 to 20 °F
Zone 8 has warm-temperate winters of −12 to −7 °C and a season long enough for two or even three plantings. Citrus survives in sheltered spots, and figs, olives, tomatoes and cool-season crops all flourish.
Mild subtropical
-6.7 to -1.1 °C · 20 to 30 °F
Zone 9 rarely freezes hard (−7 to −1 °C), so citrus, avocados, many subtropical fruits and year-round vegetables become realistic. Cool-season crops are grown through the mild winter rather than the hot summer.
Subtropical
-1.1 to 4.4 °C · 30 to 40 °F
Zone 10 is nearly frost-free, with lows of −1 to 4 °C. It's prime territory for citrus, avocado, mango in warm pockets, and a year-round vegetable garden — the main challenge becomes summer heat, not winter cold.
Warm subtropical
4.4 to 10 °C · 40 to 50 °F
Zone 11 never sees frost (lows of 4 to 10 °C), so tropical and subtropical crops — bananas, papaya, guava, ginger — grow alongside heat-tolerant vegetables. Gardening shifts to managing heat, humidity and the wet and dry seasons.
Tropical
10 to 15.6 °C · 50 to 60 °F
Zone 12 is fully tropical, with lows of 10 to 16 °C and no cold season at all. Mango, papaya, cassava, taro and a continuous parade of warm-season vegetables grow year-round; timing follows the rains, not the frost.
What grows here
Bell Pepper, Cucumber, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Eggplant, Pumpkin, Butternut Squash, Okra +213
Hot tropical
> 15.6 °C · > 60 °F
Zone 13 is the warmest hardiness zone on Earth, never dropping below about 16 °C. It's pure tropics — coconut, breadfruit, tropical tubers and perennial vegetables thrive continuously, with the wet and dry seasons setting the rhythm.
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined by its average annual extreme minimum temperature. The USDA system divides the world into 13 zones, each 5 °F (about 2.8 °C) apart. Gardeners use them to tell which perennials and trees can survive a typical winter where they live.
Very. We classify every region from the highest-resolution climate data available, downscale it to 2.5 km and validate it against official records — 99% within two half-zones of ground truth. Only small islands and polar gaps fall back to a calibrated model.
Tap “Detect my zone” above and we'll read your exact zone from your location, or pick one by hand. You'll instantly see which of our plants are ideal, which need a greenhouse, and the average winter low to expect.
Often, yes. Plants rated one zone warmer can survive with winter protection — mulch, cold frames or containers brought indoors. Microclimates near south-facing walls or in cities can also nudge you half a zone warmer.
Zone maps are updated as the climate shifts — the USDA last revised theirs in 2023. Many areas have warmed by half a zone since the 1990s. We use 1991–2020 normals, the current standard.
No — hardiness zones only describe winter cold. For heat, drainage, humidity and day length you'll want to combine your zone with local knowledge, which is exactly what PlotMyGarden's planner does.
Gardener and Software Developer
Zone 6b gardener. Growing vegetables and fruits in soil and hydroponics for 6 years. I built PlotMyGarden to plan my own gardens.
