Gemma is an experienced freelance writer who has spent the last five years focusing on expert-driven content relating to homes and gardens. She has contributed to several lifestyle publications ...

Choosing plants that are well-suited to the local climate is an important step to having a successful garden. Considering the zones where the plant can perform at its best is a good place to start as ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. When shopping for plants, you might notice labels that specify ...

Vegetables need a certain number of growing days with ideal conditions in order to mature and produce a viable yield. These conditions vary depending on the vegetables being grown, with plants ...

If mowing the lawn is your least favorite chore, consider growing a groundcover instead of traditional lawn turf for a ...

With the arrival of spring in North America, many people are gravitating to the gardening and landscaping section of home improvement stores, where displays are overstocked with eye-catching seed ...

Question: How can I make sure I am buying landscape plants that are adapted to our climate? Answer: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a climate zone map so we can select plants that are ...

Even if gardens are dormant, excitement is growing with a recent update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some area gardeners have cause to jump for joy as the region moves from a Zone 4b USDA ...

If you've ever taken a look at the planting instructions for your seedlings, flowers, or seeds, you would've notice that each plant has a designated United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ...

Growing zones, also referred to as hardiness zones, are geographical areas categorized based on average annual minimum winter temperatures in order to determine which plants are likely to thrive in a ...

Question: I am receiving a lot of nursery catalogues and all of them end the plant description by giving a zone designation. What does this mean? Answer: The "zone" designation in nursery catalogues ...

Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more. This winter, when you're studying gardening magazines and seed catalogs to decide what to plant ...