Hi Jenny and welcome! The UK forum of GW has a link to a European growing zone map. I am including the link below. Would love to see pictures of your plants!

Here is a link that might be useful: European Hardiness Zone Map

JennyGT,

Are you on the mainland, or one of the islands? What a beautiful place to garden if you can provide a little extra water when you need it! I'd suspect heat and the need for shade and water during the summer will be more limiting factors than hardiness for most of your plants.

I'd also love to see pictures, especially since the Northeast US is cold, wet and cloudy these days!

welcome,

Jim

I don't know how it is in Greece, but I've participated in a discussion about zone maps on a Danish site, and the general opinion was, that the map you find on gardenweb was incorrect. -Here people tend to go for a map, that you'll find if you follow this link....

Here is a link that might be useful: Other USDA Zone Map

I think you're a perfect 10!!! Isn't that nice to hear? We should ask you, though, how cold does it get?

Hi Jenny,

Most of the Peloponnese (is that where you are?) is equivalent to California zones 9 or 10. The altitude of your garden can make a big difference, and the proximity to the sea (which will stabilize the temps, and also increase the humidity). If you are in a city the masses of concrete will also make the temperatures several degrees higher than in the country. I live in central Athens, and in the storms this winter, the snow here melted as soon as it hit the ground, although just a few miles away on the Parnes ridge the accumulation reached several feet. I highly recommend the Sunset Western Garden book for dealing with California/Mediterranean zones. It is basically a plant encyclopedia, but each plant is coded according to the book's own zone system, which is better designed for the rainfall and altitude variations that are not captured in the standard USDA 10-zone system. It has a guide in the front that can help you figure out what microclimate you are in. There is also a discussion of whether the microclimate has enough cold days for some more northern natives to bloom/fruit properly. A good Greek bookstore like Eleutherodakis in Athens will be able to order it (sometimes they have it in stock), or Amazon carries it also.

I should also put in a plug here for the Mediterranean Garden Society, which I became a member of this spring. Their web page, http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/ has a lot of great information; the Greece society holds lectures, plant walks and gardening tours. If you join they send you their quarterly gardening journal.

Cheers,
Susanne

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Western Garden book

Thank you to you all!
Jenny se pa - thanks for being the first.
Jimshy - I am on the mainland coast, overlooking the Aegean. I am so lucky. Will post photos later.
Vgtar - yeah, I know, the map from Jenny sepa was not that helpful, equated Norway with Greece (!) Scandinavians much more sussed.
kelpermaid - a perfect 10, eh? haven't been that since I was seventeen years old...but a good straight answer and I think you're right.
texasalum - yep, you've got it. I'm in the Peloponnese, near to Nafplion. Found the Med Gardening Soc site a couple of years back. A lot of them seem to have, like, big villas with several stremmata of land. Me and my husband Charlie, we've just got pots.
UPDATE: temps between 32 and 36 for over a week now with a strong meltemi wind. Datura, canna, petunias, geraniums, bay, rosemary, plumbago and jasmine coping well. Basil ok. Dolichos, sunflowers, convolvulus and runner beans have died, also invaded by tiny creepy things which spin webs overnight despite spraying with increasing levels of stuff that if it gets heavier could sell as WMD (and I was virtually organic in the uk!). Better than the large creepy things which wander through the apartment - 10" centipedes, anyone?. I am surviving but have air conditioning at night.
Our village is about to get broadband next week - on dial-up at mo - so hope to post more regularly from then and include pix that don't take hours to download.
But thanx again for your lovely replies - really encouraging. A beautiful site!

Jenny - look forward to your pictures!

I looked at vgtar's map and the UK Gardenweb one and am not seeing that much difference - re: Norway. Both maps show western coastal Norway having a Zone 8 type climate, and both show western and southern coastal Greece as Zone 10 (with 9 further inland and 8 further north inland).

Regardless - keep cool and glad to hear that the dialup days will soon be gone!!! :-D

Hi jenny!!

I just saw your post about Gardening zone in Greece.
I read that you are living near to Nafplion, so I thing that you will know my village. I am from Nea epidavros and I have a new cacti and succulents small (at the moment) collection.
Are you sure that our area is zone 10?
Please inform it will be useful to me

Regards
Christos

Christos - if where you live rarely gets any freezes in winter, then it is a good bet that you are in the equivalent of Zone 9 or Zone 10.

Yia Christo!
Yes, I know Nea Epidavros a little, it has a scary mountain road up from Palea Epidavros (which we do know well), although KTEL buses manage it. (Sorry to non-Greek members, but finding someone so near is incredible!)
I think we are technically what is classified as a zone 10. BUT these zones seem to be based on winter temperatures, particularly frost levels. What no-one seems to deal with properly on this site is the devastating heat of July and August. In the last year I have learned a lot more - for example, that many plants go into dormancy during the heat of summer, so don't overwater them or else they'll rot. And that all plants - except your cacti and succulents - really need shade, or at least their roots shading - during high summer. This even goes for pelargoniums. Only petunias seem to survive, but even they wilt at midday. Maybe you are right to concentrate on succulents. I've got some Bouzi - Hottentot Fig - but it's only produced one flower this year. Any suggestions?
Kali kipouriki!