When you are selecting plants for your garden or backyard, it is important to know your hardiness zone and choose plants that thrive there. The U.S. Department of Agriculture divides the country into hardiness zones 1 through 12, based on the winter temperature in the different regions.
Plants that are hardy in Zone 1 accept the coldest temperatures, while plants in the higher zones only survive in warmer areas. USDA Zone 8 covers most of the Pacific Northwest and a great swath of the American South, including Texas and Florida. Read on to learn about plants that grow well in Zone 8.
Growing Plants in Zone 8
If you live in Zone 8, your region has mild winters with the low temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees F. (10 and -6 C.). Most Zone 8 areas have temperate summer climates with cooler nights and a long growing season. This combination allows for lovely flowers and thriving vegetable plots.
Zone 8 Gardening Tips for Vegetables
Here are a few gardening tips for growing vegetables. When you are growing plants in Zone 8, you can plant most of the familiar garden vegetables, sometimes even twice a year. In this zone, you can put in your vegetable seeds early enough to contemplate successive plantings. Try this with cool-season vegetables like carrots, peas, celery, and broccoli.
Cool season vegetables grow in temperatures 15 degrees cooler than warm season veggies. Salad greens and green leafy vegetables, like collards and spinach, are also cool-season vegetables and will do well as Zone 8 plants. Sow these seeds early – in early spring or even late winter – for good eating in early summer. Sow again in early fall for a winter harvest.
Zone 8 Plants
Vegetables are only part of a garden’s summer bounty in Zone 8 though. Plants can include a vast variety of perennials, herbs, trees, and vines that thrive in your backyard. You can grow herbaceous perennial edibles that come back year after year like:
When you are growing plants in Zone 8, think fruit trees and brambles. So many types of fruit trees and shrubs make good choices. You can grow backyard orchard favorites like:
If you want something different, branch out with persimmons, pineapple guava, or pomegranates. Almost all herbs are happy in Zone 8. Try planting:
Flowering plants that grow well in Zone 8 are plentiful, and far too many to name here. Popular choices include: