Hmmm. Where are you accessing the 2003 map? I went to the national arboretum/ahs.org site and it says that the '03 draft map is "no longer available" and indicates that it's undergoing further revision. All they're showing is the older one, which puts Chicago in 5b green as opposed to "buttercup" 6 (as opposed to Butterfield 8, I guess).

No matter--I'm considering my yard mostly a 6 anyhow.

Go to hardiestpalms.com Then on the left click one USDA Zone Maps. There will then be a link near the top.

Does this mean that 04/05 is supposed to be mild? Here's hoping -- it's been 2 years here since a mild winter. Both of the last 2 were fairly brutal where I live.

BTW I can grow almost any "zone 6" perennial in Ann Arbor MI, officially zone 5b. And some zone 7s too. It's those zone 6 woody plants that are harder.

some people call it climate change
others call it global warming
and yes we are having milder warmer winters...wether its a short trend or a long term climate change remains to be seen. however there is alot of evidence supporting the increased warming will continue and perhaps someday we will be a zone 7!

This winter hopefully will be more mild.. with El Nino expected which for us is a good thing. I found the new 2004 USDA Zone Map here is the link:

http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm

Again, Chicago and much of the area is a zone 6.

Pat

Actually, on Hardiestpalms.com....Chicago is zone 5B.

Select "ILLINOIS" in the top right.

Rick

Here is a link that might be useful: 2003 Plant Hardiness Zones

Yeah thats the old 1990 map. The 2003 one is a blue link provided at the top.

Yeah, Zone 6. Cool.

Forget maps......Chicago is in zone 5...and gardeners wishing to plant those plants that are hardy to the Chicago area had better realize that zone 5 plants are the ones to buy. Besides zones are a relative term. Chicago is on the shores of Lake Michigan and the closer to the Lake, the more moderate the temperatures.

Frost does not touch down as readily when the garden is near a large body of water...and Lake Michigan I think can be considered a large body. Inland, the frost is more likely to touch down and for this reason steps are taken to protect plants where lakeside gardens are not so affected.

So, you could state that lakeside gardens are in zone 6...inland in zone 5.
When buying plants, it is best to recognize where the hardiness zones are. Nurseries I'm sure all declare the Chicago area as being in zone 5 and for that reason, sell only those plants that are hardy to zone 5.

Since Chicago is in the edge of zone 5, it makes sense that in some areas (specially near water), the temperature would not drop as much. In the other hand, Chicago's freezing wind goes down beyond zone 4 sometimes...

I hope people rejoicing with the climate change are just joking.

Well those figures were all recorded at O'Hare airport, which is fairly inland. I'm sure inner city Chicago and Lakeside had even warmer lows than that.

Lake Michigan isn't the only thing influencing Chicago's climate. The city itself and the heat island that it creates moderates temps all the way back into the suburbs.

"I hope people rejoicing with the climate change are just joking."
Could you please elaborate on that? Climate change is in fact taking place, it's not a joke. I hope you can notice the lack of blizzards/snow storms and -20F degree mornings that were to commonly happen here years ago. And we are talking about actual temperature zones here not widnchill. There is windchill everywhere, not just in Chicago.

Pat

I was just to the AHS hardiness zone page & they are yanking the 2003 "draft" map & will be putting out a new one in the near future. Until then we are still considered 5b. It didn't say as to why they are pulling it...can only assume that it was wrong.

There is also a 2004 map, but I don't know its credibility. The 2003 map seemed to have many flaws. This one seems similar to that one.

Pat

Here is a link that might be useful: 2004 Zone Map

This one looks as though they are taking the lake into effect all the way up to northern WI. Weird though, 1 map says 5 & the 1 that shows the changes says 6. Believe me I'm hoping as well! Many of many just out of range woodys I am desiring I might be able to have! I have been trying to provide a little microclimate in my backyard to accomadate them & looks like I won't have to any more. My expensive taste for Japanese Maples & exotic conifers on a bartenders budget doesn't allow me to take much risk. After looking at your page, I can see why you're hoping! I'll keep my fingers crossed for the both of us.
Linda

"Climate change is in fact taking place, it's not a joke. I hope you can notice the lack of blizzards/snow storms and -20F degree mornings that were to commonly happen here years ago. And we are talking about actual temperature zones here not widnchill. There is windchill everywhere, not just in Chicago."

The real joke is someone using anecdotal evidence to try to prove dubious conclusions, but this isn't the place for this discussion.

Yes, there is z6 in WI according to new maps. And our temperatures support this, however we also have had much less snowfall in recent years. The new zone maps DO NOT take into account the lack of insulation from less snow. Zone 6 plants need the same amount of winter protection as they always have. (if not more)
Nick

Exactly!

Zone 5 or 6 or warming weather does not help if there is no snow on the ground...... or I wouldn't have lost all my Crocosmia 'Lucifer' or many other marginally hardy plants to zone 5 these past few winters........and I live mid way between O'Hare & the lake.

I don't know about the rest of you,,,but my plants don't read maps or plant tags. And the nurseries around here (70 miles south of downtown Chicago) will sell you ANYTHING!! My compost pile gets better with each passing winter. Thinking Florida looks good about now!

Cultural conditions also make a difference. I know, it's obvious, but I think a lot of people don't realize the impact. Here in SE WI people think Rhododendrons and Azaleas aren't hardy, they live a year or two and then die. Yet they grow and bloom quite well in Central WI, 4-6' tall and wide, where it is colder. The difference? SE WI is typically heavy alkaline clay soil and Central WI is sandy acid soil.
The following plants have survived in my garden, with and w/o protection: Mtn Laurel (Kalmia latifolia 'Sarah'), Alstromeria 'Sweet Laura', Buddleia 'Pink Delight' (I couldn't kill it so I gave it away! sunny W exposure, no protection, by dryer vent. 'Bicolor' Died in same location) Buddleia 'Santana' was huge this year, Eryngium agavefolium (different sources give different hardiness: plant delights 4-9, "Perfect Plant, Perfect Place" 6-9, etc.) Arisaema sikkokianum, Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold', Caryopteris 'Dark Knight', Cotinus Golden Spirit, Metasequoia glyptostroboides (no twig dieback), Rhododendron 'Fireball' (a decid azalea), and probably quite a few others that I can't think of. These are all assumed to be difficult, or marginally hardy for this area.
I'm trying more zone 6 plants w/ winter protection this year. Asarum splendens, Fuschia magellanica 'Aurea', Ligularia tussilaginea. There's a list of about 5 more, but I can't remember what they were. I will be trialing Amorphophallus konjac in few years when I have offsets. Until then, it gets stored inside since it's too cool to lose. :) There are plans for the new year as well, but we'll see what I actually purchase. (Agave parryi ssp. parryi, more Arisaemas, Arum italicum, Baptisia perfoliata, etc etc etc.)
Nick

Today we had a high of 26f. That being almost the warmest day of the year so far, I don't feel like a zone 6!

I think zone 6 is very possible close to Lake Michigan or the city...but out where I live...in the middle or so of Lake County...it's a solid 5, baby! Which is a bummer, because I'd really love to try some Carolina Jessamine on the trellis on the south side of my house. Maybe I will..I think the south side of my house may qualify as zone 6.

Global warming is real, scientifically proven, and unfortunate, IMO. It is probably also a natural phenomena, but we are driving it forward faster than normal. I don't think we should be helping it along, if at all possible. Natural global warming usually goes along at a snail's pace..giving plants and animals (and people!) time to adapt to the change. Speed it up a lot and what you got is trouble. IMO. April

october17,

I live in Ann Arbor, so we pretty much get your weather about 12 hours after you. For Christmas I got one of those indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer setups. Here are some daily max. temp. readings for 2005: Jan 1, 42; Jan 2, 50; Jan 3, 37; Jan 5, 37, Jan 10, 37, Jan 13, 52. What is this about a high of 26 being just about the warmest day of the year so far?

WPalm033,

According to The Weather Channel's data at their website, the all-time recorded low for Chicago is -24. The last time -20 was "common" was during the last ice age.

A.J.

According to Glacial records, the Earth is currently in the midst of an Ice Age.

The causes of Ice Ages may be interstellar dust, but the evidence is clear.

You drill a core down into a glacier, and count the rings just like with a tree.

The layers of ice show that an Ice Age can last eons. But occasionally there's a break called an Interregnum.

These breaks last about 10,000 years. The one we're in started 10,000 years ago...

So, we should be heading BACK into an Ice Age. Getting colder. Glaciers building up, creeping down from the mountains in Canada. The Great Lakes freezing over even in summer...

So, if it wasn't for the Internal Combustion engine, the world would be getting COLDER by the minute.

Bring on Global Warming !

Aw, you people. Wishful thinking, zone 6. Give it up. Chicago winters are awful. Don't kid yourself into thinking they aren't. Come to the land of sun and fun. Zone 9. Phoenix Arizona where everything grows all year long. Its February here and I am planting annuals and a Hibiscus in my yard. I left the Chicago landscape 4 years ago and haven't regretted it for a minute. If you want to garden, come to Arizona !

Well, from what I've read, the glaciers are actually melting. Causing them to calve HUGE icebergs, which causes problems for shipping, among other things. So are the polar ice caps, causing problems (starvation)for penguins and polar bears. And ice-bergs.

I'd love to move to Arizona, but it gets too hot in the summer. And I like having 4 seasons..I love snow. The more of it, the better. Just can't stand the bitter cold. April

woodland gardens....I'll be interested to read how your fuschia does after the winter.

I'm in a pocket of Mi recognized to be in zone 6 and I've measured only a handful of nights (in the past two years) here where our temperature even counts as low as zone six.

~Chills

Chicago had a zone 7a winter this year. The decade average is -3.6F, a solid 6b. I agree that Chicago is getting warmer.

I've heard something about this being the coldest December in 50 (or 100 - forget which) years. Hope no one planted too much Zone 6 stuff!
Ajer16 - what have your temps been?

The lowest temp this dec was -1F at O'hare. That's still zone 6b

I know the zone map is not always 100% correct. But to me, it looks like we are on the northern edge of 5. I'm about 30 miles from the lake, so not warmed by it much. Wonder what zone 6 plants will make it here this winter. It will be interesting to hear.

First of all, the midwest is getting much warmer. St. Louis used to be in a zone 6. It's a zone 7 according to the 2003 usda map and i agree with that. i can't remember the last time it went below zero. Secondly, i remember someone saying to move to phoenix. Don't ever be jealous of anything that will grow in phoenix because that is the worst place on earth to live. The soil there is actually worse than in southern california. be thankful you don't live in a desert. it actually looks green in chicago in the summer and there's something you can never really have in phoenix - grass ;)

My remaining roses say that I live in zone 5. I do live in a rural location surrounded only by corn and soybean fields. If I lived in town I would expect it to be a little less harsh.

I totally dissagree that Chicago is zone 6, although I wish it were true. I've been planting plants rated at zone 6, hoping with mulching and perhaps microclimates(right next to the south wall of my building)that they will make it,but they don't. I live about a mile from the lake, and let me tell you I never go to the lake in the winter-it's harsh! You cant keep me away from it in the summertime,but in the winter, you couldn't drag me there! I also think, somehow that my neighborhood somehow is cooler(and drier) than other parts of the city,if thats possible. I don't know how many times I've gone to the train to go to work,and come off of the train near work and felt a definite difference in temperature. And it seems even warmer,where my parents live,in the south suburbs,very close to Indiana.(There has been a canna surviving there, in the ground, kind of unprotected for the last five years!)I'm sure the cooler temps in my neighborhood come from all of the trees and plants, and the lake, while work is downtown near all of the buildings reflecting sunlight and giving off heat.
As I mentioned, there is a canna surviving at my folks place, so I tried to duplicate the process,but with no success. I planted a canna a few years ago at the back of my moms garden, close to the south wall of the house. There is a row of bricks between the garden and the foundation of the house and I think the rhizome crept beneath the brick. Much to our suprise, the next year the canna popped up between the brick and foundation in the spring. And its come back every year since. Mine never did(along with the musa basjoo, which is rated to zone 5!). And the funny thing is, there is a school, a block north and a block east of my place that has had cannas pop up this spring all along the south and east walls of the building, just on their own! Go figure!
I really think the whole zone 6 thing is wishful thinking, which I can understand, but I just dont think its that warm here.

See, the numbers say we are zone 6. You need to realize that plants dont go by just numbers. Your basjoo didn't survive because it rotted with our wet winters, not because we had anything colder than a zone 6 winter, which we havn't in the past decade.

Kyle

Location, location, location, as they say about real estate. Locality counts, along with brick walls, soil type, soil wetness, high/low spots and who knows what else. The lake can indeed be "harsh" as far as biting winds in the winter, but if you live really, really close to its shore, as in a block or three, I think the proximity of low-30s water, assuming it hasn't iced over extensively, saves you from most of the most bitter night temperatures you get in outlying areas. Between my six winters here and about 10 a mile from the lake along seas of heat-island concrete, I've never seen my thermometer read below zero, and only a couple of times below +10F, though granted I'm not looking at it at 4 a.m. Nevertheless, I'm pretty secure in my zone 6 status, though I feel as though we get a zone 4 spring that goes on forever. On the other hand, the lake saved me an early frost one year that got most everyone else, and the freakishly warm fall weather that ensued let me have a rose blooming on Christmas Eve. But one really nasty winter could send this whole discussion south.

I've failed to overwinter a musa basjoo as well (I also blame the winter wet), but I have an unprotected fig ('Hardy Chicago') that's fully root hardy and have managed to limp a zone 7 plant through winter once or twice, and I have a few things that I see listed as zone 6 plants that seem content.

Anyone want to revisit this 2yrs later? Just curious. I see that that everyone selling tender annuals have them available much earlier than in recent years, but I tell myself I won't fall for it. (This spring was proof in point.) Has our zone truly changed?

I know the few times that I visit Chicago that it is colder than SE Michigan (solid 6a/6b). I've even noticed that skink lizards are present in SE MI, but I've never seen them in Chicagoland. Has anyone there ever seen lizards on hot humid days like I have seen in suburban Detroit? Just curious.

Also, has anyone ever successfully grown Monkey Puzzle Trees or Windmill Palms. I'm attempting them in SE MI and figured that if they've made it through a Chicago Winter, they may make it here too!

I have never placed much significance on the USDA hardiness map because I think it misses many of the factors that control hardiness. For example, in Boston the temperature almost never drops below 0 F, which would clearly be a zone 7 according to the USDA. However, the USDA does not consider wind or the duration/frequency of cold. For example, during a normal winter, the lowest temperature recorded in Boston is usually not much different than many southern cities. Yet, you will not find 80 foot southern magnolias in Boston (we do have smaller ones) or Crepe Myrtles lining the streets (although some do grow them in more protected areas). Why not? Because the frequency of cold is so different. Atlanta might have one morning in winter where the temperature drops to, say +7 degrees, with clear skies and calm winds, before quickly recovering to normal, mild conditions. In the north, the same 7 degree temperature often occurs with strong gusty winds and the cold waves keep coming-at least in some winters. So, that is why a singular focus on the absolute mininum temperature is not helpful and that is why it is always better to be more conservative in terms of zone designation for long term healthy landscapes that need minimum or no extra effort in winter as far as protection is concerned. Unless you like zone pushing and experimentation-which is cool-I do it to.

I didn't originally realize how old this thread was until i peeked at a date of Jan`05

Granted, I've lived here most of my live, and i have to agree with the thread started that winters are NOT what they were when I was a kid... or even when my kids were small....and after this unseasonably warm winter we've been having (thought it was barely 20 today) ... I'm still a 5 in DuPage county. (though i am close to the border of a 6... i will consider myself a 5)

Peoria here...150 mi. downstate from Chicago. It's 5 degrees outside and I can't imagine it being colder. I have to dropkick the dogs to get them outside to pee. If this is zone 6...I'm disappointed because I always had visions of palm trees in zone 6...dang...another dream broken. lol

Even though I live in zone 6a, I plant mostly for zone 5. I only plant zone 6 plants in my warm microclimate next to the house.

I don't mulch, so my plants have to survive most of the winter with no snow covering, then multiple thaw/freeze cycles in the spring.

Some one mentioned Crocosmia 'Lucifer' above, I've received this in trades several times, planted it in several locations, never mulched it .... it never survives. :o(

So, I'm zone 6a for those that want to mulch, zone 5 for the lazy non-mulching gardeners.

too~

Glad I stumbled on this thread, old as it is. I'm a 3-year homeowner about 1/4 mile from the lake in Milwaukee, and have long been curious about zone 6 possibilities in my yard. The Home Depot near me had what I presume was a mis-allocation of nursery stock last year which yielded a Sweetgum, which overwintered successfully with no wind protection or mulching. I'm attempting Vine Maple (seed from Seattle), Osage Orange, Sassafras, Tupelo, and Am. Chestnut, all from seed (Madison arboretum) next year. Most of my yard has great wind protection and full southern exposure - I hope that microclimate is as important as some others have speculated. One thing that concerns me is the lack of snow cover coincident with our warmer winters - I wonder if that might cancel out some or all of the mean temperature increases. At any rate, I'd be interested in hearing more stories of zone 6 attempts in our area (esp. native species). Also, any more opinions on relative importance of wind protection vs. soil temperature vs. # of freeze/thaws.

I believe the record low was -24 in the city, -27 in the western burbs in the mid to late 80s, a mere 20 years ago. That's more like 4b.

When I lived in DuPage County, I never planted any shrubs/trees that weren't hardy to zone 4 because you never know. My dad lost a beautiful crab tree that winter.