Actually, there was a zone change proposal by the American Horticulture
Society, but my understanding is that USDA put a halt to it until they can get
more substantial data. According to their website: The draft version of the
revised United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zone
Map, developed in 2003 by the American Horticultural Society, is no longer
available. The USDA is in the process of creating another version of the
hardiness map using new mapping technology and an extended set of
meteorological data. For now, I believe they are staying the way they were.
Although the original Hardiness Zone Map was created in 1960, the current map
is the version from 1990. Some catalogs and books may have actually published
the proposed changes before they were halted. The changes were pretty
dramatic, making almost two thirds of Arkansas as zone 8, and the northern
fringe as zone 7! I was not in favor of it, and glad it has been halted. Do
keep in mind that hardiness zone maps are simply a guide telling us the
average low temperature in an area.
(October
2004)
A nurseryman in Arkansas told me yesterday that Arkansas's USDA zoning has been
changed so that more of the state is now a zone 8. Is this true? If so, where
can I see the new map?