Re: Climate zones

Phil Semanchuk (semanchuk~pj@glaxo.com)
Mon, 15 Jul 96 16:01:01 -0400

> I notice lots of fellow CP'ers from the US give
> climate zone ratings, many seemingly quite precise e.g
> 9b. Could anyone take the time to enlighten me as
> to the meanings of these ratings please?

Climate Zones are zones created by the USDA that segregate the US into
areas with common temperature extremes. The borders of the zones run
roughly east/west and are numbered *I think* with the lowest #s
(coldest temps) in the North. There are about 10 zones. Most of the seed
packets sold in the US have a tiny reproduction of the official USDA zone
map on the back and give you planting dates depending on which zone you
live in.

As I child of the digital age I naturally went to http://www.usda.gov
but had no luck finding a climate zone map there. I didn't search the
whole site though and I'm sure there's one somewhere at one of the .gov
domains.

Hope this helps,
Phil