The United States Department of Agriculture has come out with their updated plant hardiness map for 2012 based on temperature data from the 30-year period 1975-2005. Kudos to the folks at USDA, the Oregon State Prism Climate Group and the Agricultural Research Service who put it all together.
The USDA website provides further information, including a state by state map search function, a zoomable interactive map and a hardiness zone lookup by ZIP code function. It is always a good idea to check the most recent release to keep track of any changes that may affect the areas where you may be gardening or farming.
According to the site, no posters are available at this time, but the map is not copyrighted, so you are free to print out your own copy.
This is the first updated map release since 1990. The 1990 map was based on data from 1974-1986. Two new zones, 12 and 13 were added, but the only places where these zones are found are Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The Canadian plant hardiness zone map is found at http://atlas.agr.gc.ca/agmaf/.
The U.S. National Arboretum (USNA) website maintains a list of cold hardiness ratings for various woody plants.
If you have an interest in the potential profitability of or savings achievable by growing your own vegetables, whether using a vertical gardening setup or not , take a look at the compilation put together by the Cheap Vegetable Gardener . As it turns out, cilantro took the title as the most profitable, with arugula a close second.
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