Contact your local cooperative extension if you have questions involving planting in your specific geographic area. They can advise accurately about such matters as whether a plant is generally hardy in your area, evergreen in your area, etc., and are infinitely more knowledgeable about your local conditions than we are. There are simply way too many variables involved to expect us to know the nuances of planting in every area in the country.

We strongly advise you to call them and confirm hardiness if you are in a "fringe" zone. For example, if a plant is described as hardy in zones 4-8, then zones 4 and 8 are fringe zones: local conditions such as altitude, wind, excessive snowfall due to nearness to water, etc., may cause some parts of zone 4 to not be generally winter hardy for that plant; similarly, local conditions in some parts of zone 8 conditions may result in that plant requiring less sun than the rest of zone 8.

The links below will help you find your nearest Cooperative Extension office. Most of the state websites below contain links to contact information for regional or county offices, select the office nearest to you.

The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide educational network. Each U.S. state has a state office at its land-grant university and a network of county or regional offices. These offices are staffed by one or more experts who provide useful, practical, and research-based information in communities of all sizes.