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What do you want to grow today? 
The 12 Heat Zones
indicate the average
number of days each year that a given region experiences "heat days"-those
days with temperatures over 86 degrees and the point at which plants
experience damage to cellular proteins. The zones range from Zone 1
(with no heat days) to Zone 12 (210 or more heat days).
When used in conjunction with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's
Plant Hardiness Zone Map, consumers
can now select plants that will thrive in their gardens throughout the
year.
A full description of the AHS Heat Zone Map and a current temperature gradient map is available. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What do we mean by "southern gardening?"
We mean the region
known to gardeners as the Coastal South, stretching from the Gulf coast of
Texas to the Atlantic coast of South Carolina. The region as a whole shares
a number of distinctive characteristics: long, hot, humid summers; mild winters;
abundant rain and sunshine (usually); many native plants; and best of all,
the opportunity for year-round gardening.
We focus on North
Central Florida because that's where we are, and because it makes a good microcosm
of the region as a whole.
Why do southern gardeners need a special website?
Because gardening
here is different. We're in the transition zone between temperate and tropical
climates. Advice you get from gardening books and instructions on seed packets
may give great results in Ohio, but produce only weeds and frustration here.
A plant that needs full summer sun in Michigan may look like it's been toasted
if it gets full summer sun in Florida. Our mild winters don't kill off bugs
and weeds the way northern winters do, and so soil preparation and planting
techniques that work up north can yield a bumper crop of aggravation here.
In other words, we need a site that tells us how to grow where we're planted.
-
So what's here?
- Your
lawn & garden
- Our seasonal advice column. We think of it as our weekend to-do list for growing flowers & foliage, fruits & vegetables, lawns, and trees & shrubs.
- Events
of interest
- Special gardening events and classes, gardens and museums, gardening on TV, club meetings — updated every week.
- Tips
& help
- A library of our own articles on selected topics, along with our easy-to-use indexes to other sources' advice on southern gardening.
- Gardening
links
- Our gateway to the world of gardening on the Internet, specially constructed to help southern gardeners.
- Books
& software
- Reviews and recommendations on books and (eventually) software that specifically address gardening in the Coastal South.
- And
lots more!
The Lawn & Garden column is for mid-spring. The early spring column is still available. The links pages has further gardening information.
Then don't beat
around the bush — leaf
us a message. 