Ontario USDA map

[Paul Ont]

Not sure if I posted this before, but I made a USDA style zone map for Ontario. The USDA map itself has too little information included to be useful for Canadians, and the Canadian zone map is USELESS (I don't think that Kingston, Ontario and Victoria, B.C., are the same zone anyway...)
I used a ton of different reporting stations, all taken from the environment Canada website. Based on 30-year minimum temperature data (where available) and extrapoliated out. (i.e. north shore of the St. Lawrence river was calculated from weather stations at Brockville, Prescott, Cornwall, Montreal and Kingston).
I think it is the most accurate map available for Ontarians! I spent a lot of time on it (time that I should have spent on other things!), so it is the best map available for gardners in Ontario!
Here is the link:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/pho ... and-garden

Here is the link to a similar map I made for Nova Scotia!
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/pho ... and-garden

Again, keep in mind that these are based on 30-year temperature sets. Stations may have moved but still should reflect the the general winter lows in a given area...
Your comments are welcome!

Cheers,
Paul

[Barrie]

Hey Paul ... have you seen the zone maps compiled by CanSIS ?
They're produced by the Center for Land and Biological Resources Research, Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, from information supplied by the Ottawa Research Station and Meteorolgical Branch, Enviromnent Canada 1993.
The Ontario and Nova Scotia maps look quite similar to yours.
Here's a section of the southern British Columbia coast and Vancouver Island taken from those maps.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Alchris]

Hey Barrie;

Where is the website for this Map? I would like to see if there is any differences for Alberta. It would be interesting to see if there is anything but zones 2 & 3.

Allen

[Wes North Van]

According to this map I would be a zone 9a but I can tell you that for 8 years now I have been following and recording my temps and 1/2 the years I am a zone 9a but the other half I am a zone 8b.

This year however I am still in a zone 9b. Hope it lasts.

[Wes North Van]

I just decided to check a USDA zone map and I had my information screwed up. 9A is from -3.8C to -6.6C which means that this year I am having a zone 9A winter because I got down to -4.3C one night.
But what I also discovered is that 6 of the last 8 years I have been a zone 9A and only two years did I slip into a warm 8B. With this winter coming to a close and warmer weather ahead I will now have 7 out of 9 winters as a 9A.
So I guess my question is, am I a zone 9A or 8B?

What about you Barrie, what are your readings?

According to your map Barrie I am listed as a 9A.

I still say I am a zone 8B, mainly because I can not grow a CIDP and I am just trying a washingtonia robusta now but I do not see it surviving without protection. I am able to grow a brahea armata and chamaedorea microspadix and radicalis but again I have protected them on colder nights.

[Barrie]

Wes ... Numbers alone (zone maps) won't tell the whole tale. Zone 8 here is very different to zone 8 in Texas for example. That's why some places there are able to grow palms we can't even with the same zone rating. Here our zones are very compressed in comparison to most other areas in North America and can sometimes overlap or fluctuate. So just because your location puts you in a 9a rating doesn't mean you'll never get an 8b winter (as you've found out). Quite often gardeners in our region will use a split designation. In your case, zone 8b/9a can be used.

Allen ... All I have aside from the pic in this thread, is a hard copy of the zone map. I'm not sure one exists on file although one would think it should. I got this as a special release from Canadian Gardening magazine several years ago. I checked Edmonton's location and it's rated at zone 3a on this map. The only area in Alberta that is rated any milder (zone 3b) is a very small region in the SW corner on the border with Montana.
I don't have a scanner anymore so perhaps I can try to take a pic of the map and post it here later.

[Alchris]

Thanks for the offer Barrie. Your post told me all that I wanted to know.

The only spot in Alberta that I thought had a chance of being zone 4 was the South West corner. I don't really need to know the exact zone lines. One half a zone doesn't make much difference when it is -30.

Allen