1. Find your zone
Use GrowOrganic’s zone lookup resource, then confirm your local conditions.
Peaceful Valley Growing Guides
USDA Growing Zone Guides
Find practical planting priorities, crop ideas, seasonal tasks, and climate watchouts for USDA Zones 1 through 11.
Use zones wisely
Hardiness is the starting point
The USDA zone reflects average annual extreme minimum winter temperature. It does not replace local frost dates, heat, rainfall, soil, elevation, or microclimate.
2. Open the guide
Choose the zone page that matches your winter hardiness baseline.
3. Refine locally
Adjust timing with frost dates, soil temperature, sun, wind, heat, and rainfall.
Zones 1–11
Select your USDA growing zone
40°F to 50°F
Zone 11
Plan by tropical seasons, not frost dates.
30°F to 40°F
Zone 10
Garden by heat, rain, and the cool season.
20°F to 30°F
Zone 9
Make Fall planting your second Spring.
10°F to 20°F
Zone 8
Plant for two peaks, not one long push.
0°F to 10°F
Zone 7
Treat heat not winter—as the pivot.
−10°F to 0°F
Zone 6
Keep beds working from spring through fall.
−20°F to −10°F
Zone 5
Make the three seasons productive.
−30°F to −20°F
Zone 4
Use a reliable summer—and both shoulders.
−40°F to −30°F
Zone 3
Grow hardy crops with a head start.
−50°F to −40°F
Zone 2
Build around bright, compact summers.
−60°F to −50°F
Zone 1
Make the most of a very short season count.
Garden questions
Frequently asked questions
What does my USDA growing zone tell me?
Your USDA zone describes average annual extreme minimum winter temperatures. Use it as a starting point for plant hardiness, then consider local frost dates, summer heat, rainfall, soil, and microclimate.
How do I find my growing zone?
Use our What is my growing zone? lookup, then return here and choose the matching zone guide.
Does my zone tell me exactly when to plant?
No. Gardeners in the same zone can have different planting windows. Refine your schedule using local frost dates, soil temperature, weather forecasts, and the needs of each crop.