Zipcode report suggestion

I always took the zipcode reports to mean that you were stating that a particular plant would grow well in your area, by which I thought it implied outdoors in your garden, vs in the house or dragged into the greenhouse for the winter, that way if you report that you can grow it someone else in your zone can feel comfortable that it will do fine in their garden (maybe I'm wrong about the intention though). But with the way at least some people are using the zipcode reports I don't feel I can really make that judgement because a lot of people put in a zipcode report on plants that they grow indoors or in a greenhouse for at least part of the year. When you're looking at something super tropical like a Plumeria and you're seeing people in zone 5 saying they've had success with it, then it's pretty obvious they weren't growing it out in the garden, but since I'm in zone 9b, when I look at a plant that's supposed to be hardy to zone 10a and wanting to know if it has a chance in the garden, I can't be sure whether the other 9b'ers had it in their garden, or whether they put it in the greenhouse or indoors for the winter (unless they also added a comment that specified this) so it really doesn't help me at all.

So after this long-winded explanation, my question is whether it could either be made clear that you shouldn't submit a zipcode report unless you leave the plant outside 12 months a year, or could we add a second checkbox where people check off whether the plant was brought in somewhere for the winter? I think this would make the zipcode reports much more helpful.

i agree. not just helpful, but more relevent all the way around....and i also wish that people who post pictures would take the time to add some comments, whatever they know about the plant would surely help. i love the pictures as much as the next person, but when all of the vital information to the left is blank, well, that doesn't help me much.

What they said. :-)

I like the idea of checking a box to indicate that the plant comes in for part of the year......or most of year??? When I first started, I had so many failures thinking that people in certain zones were growing outdoors year around.....I grow many plants that can stay outside 10 months of the year............inside for the 2 coldest months...