Determining Plant Hardiness in Your Garden: The New USDA Map & Other Resources

Have you recently had a perennial plant overwinter that you didn’t expect would survive because it wasn’t designated to be hardy in your area of the country? If so, you might be wondering why. A clue to the answer lies in the newly updated USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) that was released at the end of 2023. The map’s information has long been relied upon by gardeners, growers, and researchers to help determine which plants will survive, and which won’t, in their growing areas. The PHZM’s updates reflect changes that impact about half of the country, with the overall…

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Category Roses

A Visit to Elizabeth Park

The sky was full of thunder on the afternoon we visited Elizabeth Park in Hartford and West Hartford (the park straddles the border between the two towns), but the moody sky and gusting wind only added to the drama and…

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