Regions
The land decides what grows.
A hardiness zone is a winter temperature. An ecological region is everything else — the forest type, the soil, the rain, the rivers and what lives in them. Enter a postal code or ZIP and your guide places you in both; or browse the regions below.
Zones 0–3
Boreal North & Taiga
Spruce, permafrost and enormous cold lakes. A short, bright season and a very long winter.
Yellowknife, NT · Whitehorse, YT · Thompson, MB · Fairbanks, AK
Zones 2–4
Boreal Forest & Shield
The great northern forest: mixed spruce, pine, birch and aspen over Shield rock and boreal plains, laced with lakes.
Thunder Bay, ON · Sudbury, ON · Timmins, ON · Val-d'Or, QC
Zones 4–6
Acadian Forest & Atlantic Coast
Red spruce, sugar maple and yellow birch meet the cold North Atlantic. Fog, long falls and a tidal coastline.
Halifax, NS · Fredericton, NB · Moncton, NB · Saint John, NB
Zones 4–7
Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Lowlands
The mixed hardwood heartland of Ontario, Quebec, the Great Lakes states and northern New England. Four real seasons and rich soils.
Toronto, ON · Ottawa, ON · Montréal, QC · Sherbrooke, QC
Zones 6–8
Northeast Atlantic Coast & Piedmont
The urban Atlantic seaboard from Boston to Richmond: oak-hickory forests, estuaries and a long, humid growing season.
Boston, MA · New York, NY · Philadelphia, PA · Baltimore, MD
Zones 5–7
Appalachian Highlands
The oldest mountains on the continent and the most diverse temperate forest: coves, ridges and cold headwater streams.
Asheville, NC · Pittsburgh, PA · Roanoke, VA · Knoxville, TN
Zones 5–7
Central Hardwoods & Interior Plateaus
The Ohio Valley, Kentucky and Tennessee plateaus, the Ozarks and Missouri: oak-hickory forest broken by farmland and big rivers.
Columbus, OH · Indianapolis, IN · St. Louis, MO · Nashville, TN
Zones 7–9
Southeastern Piedmont & Coastal Plain
Pine and hardwood country from the Carolinas to Georgia and north Florida: long hot summers, short mild winters.
Atlanta, GA · Charlotte, NC · Raleigh, NC · Savannah, GA
Zones 8–10
Gulf Coast & Mississippi Lowlands
Bottomland hardwoods, bayous, the Mississippi delta and the Gulf shore: humid, rainy and nearly frost-free.
Houston, TX · New Orleans, LA · Memphis, TN · Little Rock, AR
Zones 9–11
Florida Peninsula
Subtropical to tropical: flatwoods, wetlands, springs and two coasts. Gardening runs October to May.
Orlando, FL · Tampa, FL · Miami, FL · Fort Myers, FL
Zones 3–9
Prairies & Great Plains
From the aspen parkland of Alberta to the Texas Hill Country: grassland, big sky, wind, and extremes of cold and heat.
Calgary, AB · Edmonton, AB · Saskatoon, SK · Regina, SK
Zones 3–7
Western Mountains & Interior Plateaus
The Rockies, Cascades and BC interior: conifer forest, alpine meadows, dry valleys and cold fast rivers.
Kelowna, BC · Kamloops, BC · Spokane, WA · Bozeman, MT
Zones 7–9
Pacific Maritime
Temperate rainforest from Alaska to Oregon: mild wet winters, dry summers and the richest mushroom country on the continent.
Vancouver, BC · Victoria, BC · Nanaimo, BC · Seattle, WA
Zones 8–10
Mediterranean California
Oak savanna, chaparral and the Central Valley: rain in winter, drought in summer, and something in season every month.
Sacramento, CA · San Jose, CA · San Francisco, CA · Los Angeles, CA
Zones 5–10
Deserts & Dry Basins
The Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts and the Columbia and Snake River plateaus: sun, low humidity and cold nights.
Phoenix, AZ · Tucson, AZ · Las Vegas, NV · Albuquerque, NM
Zones 11–13
Hawaiʻi & the Tropics
No frost, ever. Elevation and rainfall — not temperature — decide what grows.
Honolulu, HI · Hilo, HI
Looking for zones instead? Browse the hardiness-zone guides or open the interactive zone map.