Browse by hardiness zone
A USDA zone describes the average annual minimum winter temperature and nothing else. It is the first filter on whether a plant survives where you are, and the bars below show how much choice each zone actually leaves you.
Or pick your zone
- Zone 3254 plants hardy here
Zone 3 means average annual minimum temperatures of minus 40 to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Northern Minnesota, North Dakota, interior Maine and much of the Canadian border. The limiting factor is not deer, it is the winter, and the resistant plant palette narrows sharply here. Aromatic Mediterranean perennials mostly will not survive, so the work is done by natives, junipers, ornamental grasses and the tougher spireas.
Mostly covers Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska
- Zone 4424 plants hardy here
Zone 4 means average annual minimum temperatures of minus 30 to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Upper Midwest, northern New England and higher elevations further south. Cold enough to lose lavender in a bad winter and warm enough for most of the deer-resistant standards to hold: catmint, Russian sage, yarrow, peony, most viburnums and nearly all the junipers.
Mostly covers New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Alaska
- Zone 5515 plants hardy here
Zone 5 means average annual minimum temperatures of minus 20 to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. A broad band across the Midwest and the interior northeast, and the zone the most deer-resistance advice is implicitly written for. Almost everything on this site works here, and where deer pressure is heavy this is also some of the densest whitetail country in the United States.
Mostly covers Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, Washington, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, West Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska
- Zone 6554 plants hardy here
Zone 6 means average annual minimum temperatures of minus 10 to zero degrees Fahrenheit. The mid-Atlantic, southern New England, the Ohio Valley and much of the Pacific Northwest interior. Wide plant choice, long season, and high deer pressure across most of it. Boxwood becomes reliable here, which matters when arborvitae is being browsed to a line.
Mostly covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska
- Zone 7555 plants hardy here
Zone 7 means average annual minimum temperatures of zero to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Virginia, the Carolina piedmont, Oklahoma, parts of Oregon and Washington. Warm enough for evergreens that fail further north and cool enough for peonies and lilacs to still perform, which is the widest overlap of any zone on this list.
Mostly covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, District of Columbia
- Zone 8491 plants hardy here
Zone 8 means average annual minimum temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The lower south, Texas, and the coastal Pacific Northwest. Heat and humidity, not cold, decide what survives. Lavender and rosemary become genuinely permanent shrubs, and deer pressure is year-round rather than seasonal because there is no winter dormancy to interrupt it.
Mostly covers Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, District of Columbia
- Zone 9305 plants hardy here
Zone 9 means average annual minimum temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Coastal California, the Gulf Coast and central Florida. Frost is occasional rather than structural. Most of the classic northern deer-resistant perennials struggle in the summer humidity, and the reliable palette shifts toward aromatic subshrubs, ornamental grasses and succulents.
Mostly covers Georgia, Texas, California, Oregon, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii