I'm cross-posting this in the forums I most visit.
http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm
It's my understanding this is very close to the new USDA map.
Happy holidays!
-Joe G.
New Arborday.org Hardiness Zone Maps
Hmmmm..... Looks like I might be in zone 7a now........
It just calls me zones 10-11 for Hollywood... guess I'll just stick with 10b! :)~
I don't know that the new zones are split, but many locations have been moved a zone warmer. Tha animation is really interesting. If the zones are split I am 6b in a 7a microclimate. w00h00! :)
-Joe
Interesting that those of us on the border can put our zip codes in and get a definitive answer. I think the American Horticultural Society came out with this map several years ago and it is just now being accepted as legit.
I typed in my zip as well as other nearby towns in the county, and they all came up as "zone 6-7"....... I guess I'll just stick with 6b for now with a cautious 7a until I can get a zoomed in map that shows counties.....
Hikaro,
To me this map seems more accurate in that it now better reflects what people like us have been relaying anecdotally for years. When I see species like albizia julibrissin and trachycarpus takil doing well north of me, that leads me to believe that either what we know about the species is suspect, or our knowledge of climate is suspect, or a combination of both. :)
-Joe
Joe, here is an copy of the map you posted only it is animated to show the changes. www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm
Joe, I've also noticed some "Zone Creep" as well.... In PA, I've never seen Phyllostachys aureosulcata in large groves North of Harrisburg ten years ago, now I'm seeing 20 foot tall groves in Huntington and Orbisonia, which were both formerly zone 5....
In addition, while a few adventerous souls were growing Crape Myrtle around here as a die-back plant as long as 20 years ago, it is only recently that large specimens have been growing in our area with little or no winter damage....
Shucks, it only got down to about 0 degrees last year, and so far this year hasn't got below 16.......
This winter is down right wierd. My gardenia thinks its down in Atlanta. It's budding beautifully in its little cold frame. It should have its first blooms in March. My sole palm, my little t. fortuneii is currently wondering why it is covered in straw (it's doing beautifully.) Some of my plants have never even lost their green leaves or been touched by the frost: my Stephan's jasmine, my two p. trifoliatas, my butterfly bush, and my culinary sage.
I suspect this year my two misplanted crape myrtles will not die back. So far their wood is supple. I expect them to put up some decent growth this year, maybe even bloom.
The long-term forecast is now saying above-normal temperatures through March. We're heading into our (historically) coldest period of the year, and our temps are twenty degrees above normal.
Aside from that, like you said I've started seeing things here that didn't used to be here. Different plants now make it through the winter, and some plants now grow very differently.
-Joe
Joe, remember the Crape Myrtles leaf out later than most plants. They often look dead when they are just still sleeping.