Newly accessible at the American Horticultural Societyıs web site is
an Adobe(R) Acrobat(R) PDF file showing a draft version of the latest
revision of the U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zone Map
(http://www.ahs.org/pdfs/USDA_Map_3.03.pdf; 5.56 megabytes). Is there
much difference between this new map and the last (1990) version? Yes!
The boundaries of many of the Zones have moved considerably toward the
north, so that many gardeners will find themselves in different (warmer)
Zones than before. The revised map, based on data collected between 1986
and 2002, is graphic testimony to the pobability [sic] of global
warming!
Gotta love that global warming, eh?
I have to wonder just how correct these adjustments really are -- especially
after this last winter we suffered through. We're still Zone 6 up here, but
not far from Zone 7. With microclimes I can grow Zone 7 plants though --
and with all them trees in me back yard, I gots lots of microclimes. Grin
James