Plant Hardiness Zones

Continental United States

Click on a zone number to see a list of selected woody plants that will grow there. Plants are listed under the coldest zones in which they normally succeed.

All agriculturists, horticulturists and home gardeners have one central question about any plant they wish to grow: Will it flourish? The ability to predict whether a species can be successfully grown in a location affects everything from agricultural productivity to your own backyard garden. Since 1960, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has compiled the range of temperatures across North America and created maps that indicate zones of plant hardiness. Today, the USDA map — updated in 1990 based on weather records from 1974 to 1986 — is the standard measure of plant hardiness throughout most of the U.S.

The USDA divides North America into 11 hardiness zones, each of which represents an area of winter plant hardiness. Zone 1 is the coldest, found in Canada and the far northern U.S.; zone 11 is the warmest, a tropical area that is essentially frost-free and found only in Hawaii and southernmost Florida. The temperatures listed indicate the average annual minimum temperatures — the lowest temperatures that can be expected each year.

Zone 1
Below -50 F (-45.6 C)
Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)
Dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa)
Lapland rhododendron (Rhododendron lapponicum)
Netleaf willow (Salix reticulate)
Pennsylvania cinquefoil (Potentilla pensylvanica)
Quaking aspen (Populus fremuloides)

Zone 2
-50 to -40 F (-45.6 to -40 C)
American cranberry bush (Viburnum trilobum)
Bunchberry dogwood (Cornus canadensis)
Bush cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)
Eastern larch (Larix laricina)
Paper birch (Betula papyrifera)
Silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata)

Zone 3
-40 to -30 F (-40 to -34.5 C)
American arborvitae (Thuia occidentalis)
Common juniper (Junipercus communes)
Japanese bayberry (Berberis thunbetgii)
Siberian crabapple (Malus baocata)
Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)
Tatarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)

Zone 4
-30 to -20 F (-43.5 to -28.9 C)
Amur River privet (Ligustrum amurense)
Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis)
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
Panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata)
Vanhouffe spirea (Spiraea x vanhouttei)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

Zone 5
-20 to -10 F (-28.9 to -23.3 C)
Boston ivy (Paithenocissus tricuspidata)
Common privet (Ligustrum vulgare)
Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
Japanese rose (Rosa multiflora)
Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata)
Slender deutzia (Deutzia gracilis)

Zone 6
-10 to 0 F (-23.3 to -17.8 C)
American holly (Ilex opaca)
California privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium)
Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
English ivy (Hedera helix)
Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)
Winter creeper (Euonymus follunei)

Zone 7
0 to 10 F (-17.8 to -12.3 C)
Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica)
Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica)
Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophylium)
English holly (Ilex aquifolium)
Kurume azalea (Rhododendron Kurume hybrids)
Small-leaf cotoneaster (Cotoneaster microphylla)

Zone 8
10 to 20 F (-12.3 to -6.6 C)
Cherry-laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
Japanese pittosporum (Pittosporum tobira)
Laurestinus (Viburnum tinus)
Mexican orange (Choisya temata)
New Zealand daisy-bush (Olearia haastii)
Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo)

Zone 9
20 to 30 F (-6.6 to -1.1 C)
Asparagus fern (Asparagus setacous)
Australian bush cherry (Syzygium paniculatum)
California pepper tree (Schinus molle)
Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrids)
Silk-oak (Grevillea robusta)
Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus )

Zone 10
30 to 40 F (-1.1 to 4.4 C)
Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spectabilis)
Ensete (Ensete ventricosum)
Golden shower (Cassia fistula)
Lemon eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora)
Royal palm (Roystonea regia)
Rubber plant (Ficus elastica)

Zone 11
40 F and above (4 C and above)
Banana (Musa)
Coffea arabica (Coffee)
Colocasia esculenta (Taro)
Ficus benjamina (Weeping Chinese banyon)
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Chinese hibiscus)
King palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana)
Mask flower (Alonsoa meridionalis)
Mango (Mangifera indica)
Painted-fingernail plant (Neoregelia spectabilis)
Vanda orchid (Vanda sanderiana hybrids)

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