What is the difference between growing zone and hardiness zone?Updated 2 months ago

Hardiness Zones

• We list the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones to indicate where a long-lived plant (a perennial or biennial) can survive the minimum winter temperatures. This is where the plant is considered "cold hardy."
• If there are no Hardiness Zones listed, then this plant can successfully survive the winters of the Growing Zones listed.

Growing Zones

• Sometimes we list Growing Zones on the product page that are outside of the plant’s Hardiness Zones.
• If a plant has Growing Zones outside of its Hardiness Zones, it can be grown with a little help from the gardener, treated as an annual, grown as a houseplant, or lifted and stored over the colder months.

For example, let’s look at Dahlia Hardiness Zones vs Growing Zones:

• Growing Zones = Zones 3-11
• Hardiness Zones = Zones 8-11 (lift in winter)
• This means that while Dahlias can be grown in Zones 3-11, they will only be winter hardy in Zones 8-11. The tubers can be dug and stored indoors over winter, or they can be treated as annuals and replanted every year.