When the USDA-Agriculture Research Service and Oregon State University released the updated map of plant hardiness zones for the United States, there was a collective gasp heard across Minnesota. “What! So much of our state is now zone 5? It cannot be.” Let’s look deeper into how hardiness zones are determined and what the map…

One of the most important things us cold-climate gardeners need to know? Our plant hardiness zone. Cold hardiness zones are established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every 20 years or so. The lower your zone number, the colder it is. Use this handy guide to find the hardiness zone specific to you. The most…

One of the mantras often repeated by garden designers is “think foliage first, then flowers.” Foliage lasts throughout the growing season and sometimes hangs on into winter, while flowers on trees, shrubs and perennials tend to be fleeting. In this book by Washington-state based garden designers Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz, foliage is both the…