I work with buyers relocating to the Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area from places as far away as Hawaii and Alaska.  When they get here and buy a home they are sometimes excited about starting their gardens in this new area with new choices available to them.  But, if you look on the internet for Nebraska and Iowa you might think we're in Zone 5, but wait, we're in a small pocket inside Zone 5 of Zone 4.  Yes, it makes a big difference.  Roses can sometimes become annuals.  Other perennials become annuals.  Where you plant in the yard makes a big difference.  My hydrangea dies back to the ground every year, but it comes back. 

So, as an exclusive buyers agent, who also likes gardening, I always make it a point to let my buyers know that we are in fact in Zone 4, and some things just don't like it.  I suggest plants that really thrive in Zone 4 and others that will thrive in protected areas.

Spring is coming and I can't wait to play in the dirt.  Reading the catalogs is no longer enough.  I want my buyers to have the same fun.

USDA Zone Map

 

12 Comments on Do your new buyers know what USDA garden zone they live in?

MAR
05
2008
1,515,981 Points 112 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Called Shot Master
Never thought of what this might mean to someone.  Thanks for sharing.
12:16pm • #1
Chris - For me it means my butterfly bushes probably won't make it through the winter so I should save my money and buy the cheap ones.  They still bloom.  It also means I can't have a garden just like grandma's because she lived 100 miles South of me in Zone 6 and I'm in Zone 4.  But I still have the gardening gene!
2:10pm • #2
MAR
06
2008
 I use this zone map all the time Gloria! Its perfectly useful and I have already started on my spring garden as it is already warm enough here in zone 9!
1:49pm • #3
Shellee, You're so lucky.  Anything planted before Memorial Day here won't do much. 
2:48pm • #4
319,657 Points 4 Featured Posts Outside Blog
Gloria, The only time I think about it is in the spring when I'm itching to get out and plant. I've made the mistake of planting too early and lost seedlings to frost. I'm going to pay attention to the zone this year. Great post!
9:51pm • #5
MAR
11
2008
103,326 Points 5 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog
Gloria - Here in my area, you can be anything from a zone 3 to a zone 6, all within a few miles.  It's kind of tricky that's for sure.  What I need is a zone map of Alaska, or even better, just one of Southeast!
2:38am • #6

Debbie,  Here you go!  This should give you Alaska.  My Alaska buyers are looking forward to being here so they have more options.  Good luck!

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/alaska.html
1:28pm • #7
MAR
12
2008
103,326 Points 5 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog
Wow, thanks, Gloria!   I'll check it out.  What part of Alaska were your buyers in?
12:23am • #8
They are stationed at Elmendorf near Anchorage.  Quite a change from Omaha.
8:36am • #9
117,258 Points 8 Featured Posts
Great info, Gloria!  I can't believe you're in Zone 4.  I appear to be in Zone 5, probably because I'm so close to Lake Michigan, which tends to moderate our temps a bit.
10:46am • #10
Stefan,  I'm in a small pocket of Zone 4 that occurs, I think, because of the proximity to the Missouri River and the loess hills which has a tendency to trap cold and winds.  I'd tell you about the loess hills but that would be another blog topic for localism.  (Here's a hint:  It's a geologic formation that occurs in two places in the world; Iowa and China.  And you thought there was nothing here!)
11:07am • #11
SEP
26
2008

Gloria, what a good idea to share this info with your buyers.  I ran across your blog while looking for some other map stuff.  Couldn't resist opening it, since I grew up in Omaha. 

I enjoy gardening too and we have the same kind of issue down here near Springfield...yes, it's southern Missouri but it's on the Ozark plateau, so for some garden purposes we have to treat it as northern Missouri.

I know what loess hills are!  One of my relatives, named Les, lives close by and teases that they are named after him.

Enjoyed your post.
4:28pm • #12


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Gloria Ruesch Nebraska-Iowa Real Estate Agent

Omaha, NE

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NP Dodge Real Estate

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