Pushing the Zone

If you're a gardener, you already know what zone pushing means.  If not, well, let me explain.  We all have our own garden zones, depending on where you live.  I am in zone 8.  If I buy a plant that is cold hardy only to zone 9 (about 10 degrees hotter), that is a gamble known as pushing the zone.

It seemed like a safe bet.  With all the hot weather and mild winters we were having, and all the talk about global warming, my gamble paid off.  Until last year:

Last year we got snow.  And lots of it.  So long, tropical beauties.

And so, I decided that I would not push the zone any more.  And I (almost) stuck to that plan.  Except I bought the most amazing firecracker grass plants, and an Allamanda vine. Both zone 9 plants.

They just weren't labeled, and so I didn't know!  That's my excuse.  Really, I should have researched them before purchasing.  But that's just not as much fun.  Probably more fun than having dead plants, though, because this is what happened this year:

More snow.  See how Mr. Froggy's frowning?

And now the weather forecasters are predicting cold and snowy winters for the next 30 years.  Which I'll take with a grain of salt.  They can't get next week's forecast right.  I'm certainly not going to believe they know the forecast for the next 30 years!

But, no more zone pushing for me!  I'm a zone 8.  I'm a zone 8.  I'm a zone 8.  I must remember that when I see some amazing plant offered that's really for zone 9.

You can click here to find your USA hardiness zone if you don't already know it.  (Or if you want a reminder, if you too have been Pushing the Zone.)