Canadian Planting Zone Map - Hot, Cold and In Between

The Canadian planting zone map was first set up in 1967 by Agriculture Canada, a group of scientists, who created a plant hardiness map with a wide range of information such as winter temperatures and how low they are known to go in specific zones, the length of the frost free period in certain zones, the summer rainfall, the Canadian maximum temperatures in zones, the snow cover in zones on average, the January rainfall, and the maximum wind speed in certain zones. Planting zones are designated areas that have been classified in order to allow buffs of Canadian gardening to know where specific plants will grow best.

Maps of planting zones have changed in the past decade to reflect start climate changes making gardens and gardening in Canada different that before, particularly in Western Canada. Gardens planted in a zone where frosts fluctuate are well known to Canadian gardeners.

Factors in the garden map zones such as microtopography, the shelter and subtleties of variations in snow cover are made specific in the local region maps for gardening. For any garden, planting information that is obtained by observation of fluctuations in the snow fall, frost, rain and other weather factors affect the way garden plants will adjust from one year to the next.

Planning By the Map

When planting a garden, the changing weather conditions of your zone are all factors to take into consideration. With the new hardiness map in Canada, gardens can be established according to the zones designated on the map. Special knowledge gives gardeners in Canada the heads up for soil conditioning, fertilizer and which items are best for container gardening.

For Canada, the map is divided into nine major zones, the harshest is 0 and the mildest is 8. Relatively few plants are suited to zone 0. In Canada, there are zones where melts are happening that are causing plants to grow where never before there had been. The changes in climate are making it necessary for people to adjust to new planting zones.

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