Okay, I'm a newbie when it comes to gardening, so I'm trying to learn all I can. I keep seeing references to zones, & I've figured out they mean areas of the country, and which plants grow best in which zones, but I haven't been able to find out which zone I'm in.
Anyone know what the Vancouver area is?
Thanks!
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you are right, that is what it means. But you may be able to get away with trying a zone 7 thing, especially if you are prepared to take care of it in winter - see Smoodgie's post about her hydragea -- also somewhere on the forum are some lovely photos she took of the flowers. Alas, I am too lazy to baby things through the winter. My approach to gardening is *tough love* :D
If the map shows that I am in Zone 6b - does that mean that I can plant things that say (example - Zone 3). But, not to plant things that say Zone 8?
Another beginnning gardener here!!
thanks.
Along the lines of what Mary Anne said, don't be afraid to experiment with plants that aren't recommended for your zone. If you cover them up and give them good protection over the winter, you might get a happy surprise in the spring :) All the nurseries in my region told me that Nikko hydrangeas (the blue & pink ones) won't grow here. Well, I took two indoor blue hydrangeas that I bought at Easter, planted them outside, and last summer, I had about 17 flower heads of beautiful pink & purple & blue flowers. And there are lots of leaf shoots coming out on the plants this spring, so it looks like they made it through their 2nd winter :)
Nothing like people telling you that you can't do something to make you want to do it even more!!
All you newbies, have fun gardening!! My DH says it is a DISEASE. He thought I was truly obsessed, until one day we watched a TV documentary about orchid collectors and the lengths they will go to to get new specimens that no one else has...now he just thinks I am mildly sick LOL
You can find out your hardiness zone on this great Canadian map site:
http://wms1.agr.gc.ca/cgi-bin/mapplant2000?mode=browse&layer=zones&layer...
and keep in mind that you can often find microclimates, depending where you are (especially within cities as they tend to protect against extremes of weather) and you can sometimes get away with growing more tender things. Always experiment! and always have fun....
but I went to better homes and gardens web site, and they have suggested garden layouts for all conditions !! Now all I hav to do is decide which one first .
Good luck, you've got a head start on us in Southern Ontario - our snow just melted about 10 days ago!
I've been out a lot, catching up with weeds and such that I let lay last fall. I have a fire under my butt now, as I had 4 yards of nice soil delivered and I am tired (as I'm sure my neighbours are!) of seeing it in a pile in the driveway, lol. Major weeding in a new bare bed cut out last year is nearly done, so the plan is to build up the soil level and start shuffling plants around! I have some from my FIL in pots in my carport from fall that I never got planted, and I'm dividing a couple of things out front to share with the new garden in the back yard.
You WILL have fun out there, once you get going. My garden is still in its infancy stage, as this will be my 5th growing season only. My earliest plans are coming together, but the newest hydrangeas, rhodos, etc. are still small. I haven't even started my plans for my shade garden-hopefully this will be the summer I get that one dug in and started out.
Share pictures if you can. I love touring the gardens of others!
It's about time to start gardening for us west coasters, isn't it! :)
Now if I can just figure out which plants to get and some sort of decent layout, I'll be set!
Vancouver is zone 8. I have seen reference to zones as 8a and 8b, but I don't know what that's about.