Hi gang,
I've been trying to figure out what requirements I will need to follow when I build my greenhouse/coldhouse in the spring. I thought the best climate guide would be the new USDA climate zone system, but many of you use the Sunset system...
I have the Sunset Bonsai book, so I looked up my area. Well, according to the map in the back of the book, I'm either in zone 3a, or 1a!! They have my area going from "coldest mountain and intermountain area" to "mild areas of mountain and intermountain
climates" with nothing between the two! That can't be right, can it? Anyone who owns the book can take a look at the map... I'm in Utah, a little north of the mid-point between Ogden and Salt Lake City on the road that connects the two. Ogden is liste
d in zone 1a, while Salt Lake City is in 3a, despite the fact that they are both at approximately the same altitude and only about 35 miles apart. Huh?? Plus, the zones don't follow the mountains very well; they have Park City inside zone 3a along with S
alt Lake City, but Park City is at a much higher altitude and has temps approximately 15-20 degrees lower on average. I don't think rainfall is the issue, the entire valley gets the same (low) amount of moisture.
The new USDA map has my house on the border of zones 6 and 7. The zone contours of the USDA map matches much more closely the mountain ranges here and look to be quite a bit more accurate than the Sunset zones.
So what do we use? Should we learn/remember both systems? Is there a formula used by Sunset that we can use to decide on our own what zone we should be in? Am I stressing over nothing?

Rich Allen
Clearfield, Utah
USDA '03 Zone 6-7
Sunset Zone 3a or 1a

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