PHOENIX — With blazing summers and average annual rainfall totals of just 12.3 inches across the state, gardening in Arizona can be intimidating for those looking to start, especially if you live in the Valley. ABC15 takes a look at the basics of gardening and what people can do if they want to exercise their green thumb year-round.
Climate Zones: What are they? When you go to a store to purchase a plant or seeds, sometimes you’ll see a guide saying when it is best to plant based on your location’s “Hardiness Zone,” as set by the USDA. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zones are determined by the extreme cold that a location may experience during the year. Zones “do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time.
Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations,” according to the USDA website . Arizona hardiness zones range from 4b to 10b. Much of Maricopa County falls into the 9b zone, meaning that it does not get colder than 25° to 30° Fahrenheit.
A publication from the University of Arizona says that nurseries, landscapers, and gardeners in the Southwest commonly use the “Sunset climate zones” to choose plants. The Sunset climate zones take overall temperature and conditions into consideration, not just the lowest lows. Angelica Elliott, the assistant director of public horticulture at Dese.
