The concept of plant hardiness zones, as determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is of enormous help when it comes to determining which plants will thrive in your garden. However, it fails to take into account “microclimates”—that is, small areas within a hardiness zone where some quirk in the landscape or local conditions makes the environment noticeably different from the surrounding region. A microclimate can be as small as a sunny spot in your yard that’s sheltered from cold and wind, where a particular plant that ought not to grow in your hardiness zone may still be able to do well.
Photo courtesy of Anika Malone at Flickr.com.
Here’s an example: sheltered south-facing walls can provide ideal locations for plants that need more warmth than your hardiness zone can normally provide. This is because south-facing walls tend to receive more sunlight during the day than walls facing in other directions. During the night, the solar energy collected by the wall is released, increasing the ambient temperature. Plants placed next to the wall end up warmer and protected from the wind.
Of course, microclimates tend to be a bit larger than that. For more information on your local conditions, contact your county’s agricultural extension agent.
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