please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).
oh gosh, i'm so excited about this i've begun to dream of flowers every
night---it's so colourful---at times, i don't want to awaken!!!!

thanks, in advance.
--
With Malus toward none, and Cherry-Trees toward all.

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:25:43 -0500, RAINDEAR
wrote:

please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).
oh gosh, i'm so excited about this i've begun to dream of flowers every
night---it's so colourful---at times, i don't want to awaken!!!!

thanks, in advance.


try he

http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi

I will send you a Western Sunset Garden book which divides the zones west of
the Mississippi into more concise understandable zones. The Sunset book is
awesome. And the local used bookstore apparently has over a dozen slightly
used Western Sunset Garden books for about $7 each because the people here
buy them not realizing that they need the NATIONAL Gardening book to apply
the extended zones to Eastern Tennessese.. I'm going into town today, I'll
get your copy today and mail it off tomorrow
madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, SUNSET zone 36
"RAINDEAR" wrote in message
...
please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).
oh gosh, i'm so excited about this i've begun to dream of flowers every
night---it's so colourful---at times, i don't want to awaken!!!!

thanks, in advance.
--
With Malus toward none, and Cherry-Trees toward all.

RAINDEAR wrote:

please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

By 35 miles south of Albuquerque, do you mean near Los Trujillos or
Belen?

From the plant hardiness zone map at:
http://www.growit.com/bin/USDAZoneMaps.exe?MyState=NM

Albuquerque looks like zone 7B and the area around Los Trujillos or
Belen is 7A.

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).

Hardiness zone is basically a way to categorizing the coldness of the
winter. It only has a weak correlation with when it is safe to plant
frost tender plants. That is based upon the last killing frost. In
desert climates, this date is much later because of the wide daily
temperature extremes.

Based upon the last kiling frost map at:
http://www.nm.nrcs.usda.gov/Technica...atelastkillfro
stspring.jpg

The average last killing frost in Albuquerque is between April 15 and 20.
In Belen and Los Turjillos, it is between April 10 and 15.

Since weather is seldom average, the other important date is the "Frost
Free Date" which is actually the date there is a 90% chance that there
will be no frost and when it is assumed safe to plant tender crops like
tomatoes if one checks the weather report first. (in other words, don't
use this date blindly, there is a 10% chance this date is wrong and the
weather report can tell you if it is likely) Based upon the chart at:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/document.../Spring32F.pdf

The date that there is less than a 10% chance of frost is around May 25.
That is due to the desert climate and the wide swing in daily
temperature.

There is also a heat zone that determines what plants can be gown. Many
nurseries haven't started supporting the heat zone yet. Using the heat
zone map at:
http://www.ahs.org/publications/heat_zone_map.htm

The heat zone is 8 meaning that it has 90 to 120 days above 86F each
year.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhody.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhodybooks.html
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA Zone 6

You'll need to think about one fact of life out there, you'll be living in a
DESERT and depending on if your using city water or have a water well, you
may have a lot smaller garden that your dreaming of.


--

The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
Astronomy Net Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/astronomy_net
In Garden Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/ingarden
Blast Off Online Gift Shop
http://www.cafepress.com/starlords




"RAINDEAR" wrote in message
...
please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).
oh gosh, i'm so excited about this i've begun to dream of flowers every
night---it's so colourful---at times, i don't want to awaken!!!!

thanks, in advance.
--
With Malus toward none, and Cherry-Trees toward all.

actually, i was seeking a simple answering like:
hey! raindear: the zone is.....NM z.... whatever

i don't LIVE there....hence, i don't know the zips. i've been investigating
buying land and/or real properties there, not zips; BUT i am an eager and
anxious gardener who has lived in zone 4a TOO LONG and am eagerly
anticipating a zone like 6? 7? heck!! i'd even take 5 at this point---i just
feel VERY underachieving being in zone4. it has so many limitations
regarding the plants "I" like.
don't get me wrong--there are WONDERFUL things growing in them thar woods; i
just, at times, feel bereft of plants i'd fallen in love with in zone 5 and
7.

so....anyone else?? oh!!! and PLEASE....do not give me an EARL that has the
stupid USDA map....not only does one need a microscope to see the teeny
areas, the biggest bad thing is the colours they use are all so quite
similar---it's VERY difficult to tell one pink from another pink. at least
for someone like me who is legally blind. (not blonde---BLIND)

thanks anyways, charles. i DO appreciate any response.
--
With Malus toward none, and Cherry-Trees toward all.


From: Charles
Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy!
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 02:28:58 GMT
Subject: yet another question about a usda zone

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:25:43 -0500, RAINDEAR
wrote:

please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).
oh gosh, i'm so excited about this i've begun to dream of flowers every
night---it's so colourful---at times, i don't want to awaken!!!!

thanks, in advance.


try he

http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:52:47 -0500, RAINDEAR
wrote:

actually, i was seeking a simple answering like:
hey! raindear: the zone is.....NM z.... whatever

i don't LIVE there....hence, i don't know the zips. i've been investigating
buying land and/or real properties there, not zips; BUT i am an eager and
anxious gardener who has lived in zone 4a TOO LONG and am eagerly
anticipating a zone like 6? 7? heck!! i'd even take 5 at this point---i just
feel VERY underachieving being in zone4. it has so many limitations
regarding the plants "I" like.
don't get me wrong--there are WONDERFUL things growing in them thar woods; i
just, at times, feel bereft of plants i'd fallen in love with in zone 5 and
7.

so....anyone else?? oh!!! and PLEASE....do not give me an EARL that has the
stupid USDA map....not only does one need a microscope to see the teeny
areas, the biggest bad thing is the colours they use are all so quite
similar---it's VERY difficult to tell one pink from another pink. at least
for someone like me who is legally blind. (not blonde---BLIND)

thanks anyways, charles. i DO appreciate any response.


One zip code for Albuquerque is 87101. that puts it in USDA zone 7.
Sunset Western Gardens Book has a different zone system, more detail
and more factors considered. they show the same zone from Albuquerque
on down El Paso and on into Mexico as being the same climate. That is
in the river valley, east and west of the valley it gets cold.

RAINDEAR wrote:
please, can anyone tell me the usda zone of
a) the location of albuquerque, NM
b) if different, the area apx. 35 miles south of albuquerque (it CAN be
different, as the altitude is lower than albuq)

i'd really appreciate it so i can start planning all the goodies i'm gonna
be able to grow (am now in New Hamster zone 4a).
oh gosh, i'm so excited about this i've begun to dream of flowers every
night---it's so colourful---at times, i don't want to awaken!!!!

thanks, in advance.

Others have suggested using Sunset zones instead of USDA zones, but they
fail to indicate why.

The USDA zones are based entirely on winter low termperatures. While
this is important relative to the hardiness of certain plants and the
needs of other plants for winter chill, it fails to address such issues
as length of winter freezes, amount of summer heat, winds, humidity,
length of growing seasons, when is the wet season, etc.

The Sunset zones take more of the climate into account. For example, in
southern California, the difference between adjacent coastal and inland
climate zones might be determined by the amount of haze and humidity in
the summer coastal zone (caused by evaporation from the ocean), both of
which are missing in the inland zone. This can make a difference
whether fuschias can be grown.

The area you indicate is likely USDA zone 7: average annual minimum
temperature 0-10°F. It is likely Sunset zone 10: high desert areas of
Arizona and New Mexico, 75-100 nights below 32°F, winter chill lasting
as late as April, growing season lasting 185-225 days, summers not as
hot as California and Nevada deserts, summers sometimes wetter than
winters.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:52:47 -0500, RAINDEAR
wrote:

i don't LIVE there....hence, i don't know the zips.


Google, by your own advice.

Thank you, David! Here is a person askiing for advice, not push the button
and find there is no human involved in the situation! If I can answer a
simple question, I will and always have done so. Ha, ha! Try moving from Ma
to Md and now in Fl.

Any, thank you for giving a good answer and not some url. (by the way, we
are moving to Tn! ah, some interesting gardening...)

--
gloria - only the iguanas know for sure