The United States Department of Agriculture has divided the country, including Alaska, into hardiness zones. These are dependent on the range of annual average minimum temperatures for a specific area.
Swell.
What is not taken into consideration is elevation and the very dramatic difference even five feet can make to a plant's chance of survival.
Homer at Latitude 59 degrees is a tough cookie.
For 20 years, I lived at Mile 15 East End Road and gardened. A friend lives at about the same elevation on Skyline Drive and gardens. We had very different gardens. She has an excellent southern exposure, warming the slopes of her garden far sooner than mine. My garden was on relatively flat ground with massive spruce surrounding it. The spruce protected the garden and the house from the west wind, they also shaded everything. I would say that my friend and I were in different zones, although exactly what zone that is could be debated for quite some time.
I used the walls of the house or outbuildings for protection from the wind, adding warmth. Also, acting as mulch, five feet of snow covering perennials is quite a boon.
When I moved down to 396 feet seven years ago I had a lot to learn. About perennials dying for lack of snow cover. About delphiniums not thriving because it seems too hot where I have them, close to the house, offering them the protection that they needed at a higher elevation, but not here. About dianthus barbatus (Sweet Williams) and digitalis (foxgloves) that just can't seem to make it past one year. Higher up they were thriving, here they are struggling without their snow cover.
I have found the most useful tool for a gardener is the information that a neighbor can provide.
All those years ago, I was blessed with longtime Alaska gardeners for neighbors who were generous with their hard-won knowledge. They encouraged me in my efforts. They shared plants. They came over to take a look at what I had going on and offered suggestions. These were all things that cannot be learned from reading magazines or seed catalogs. It takes experience.
But we also need to take a few risks. If we don't try new plants that seem a bit beyond our grasp we may be missing a jewel, if given favorable growing conditions.
Here at elevation 396 feet, I shoot for Zone 3, pushing to Zone 4. Those Zone 4 plants that I have are not something that I am depending on building my garden on. They are for fun, just to see if I can do it.
If you have taken my oft given advice you now own the book "Landscape Plants for Alaska," No. HGA-00035, published by the Alaska Cooperative Extension Office. That office has devised its very own zone map that puts Homer in Zone 6. Really, this just adds to the confusion. Believe me, if you order from a catalog, do not order Zone 6 plants. You will be disappointed.
Take my hydrangea paniculata (Pee Gee) for instance. I bought it on a lark. Just to see if it would do anything. Word got around that I had one of these lovelies and a gardener from Soldotna got word to me that it would probably die back to the roots every year for four years. After that all should be well. So far, she is correct, and I haven't a clue who she is. Another example: a German friend was telling her sister, still in Germany, that my roses, Therese Bugnet, were not thriving. Her sister told me to leave them alone, give them a chance to get their roots established and all would be well in about three or four years. Excellent advice.
It is tips like this that will lead you in the right direction. That will cost you nothing, and will make your garden experience positive.
If you are just starting your garden, if you are looking for stalwart plants to make the frame of a garden that you plan on looking at, working in and enjoying for years to come, go with Zones 2 and 3. Offer them the proper drainage, wind protection and soil conditions and they won't fail you.
Zone 4 plants are for frills. They are to experiment with. They are for fun. They are not what you are going to depend on. I know our weather is changing. I know that we need to experiment, to push the envelope.
So when you are faced with a Zone 4 plant I want you to consider the implications of just what that means and how much money and time you are willing to spend on an experiment.
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