Don't start gardening yet. Even though you can start gardening outdoors earlier this year in the Carolinas thanks to a change in the USDA's classification of Plant Hardiness Zones for North Carolina and South Carolina, we've got at least one more cold snap this week.

This week on the Carolina Weather Group, Candice Jordan hosts a special conversation with her colleague from the Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, North Carolina.

Few the detailed and interactive USA Plant Hardiness Zone Map at https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/.

This episode was available early on https://patreon.com/carolinawxgroup

See typical dates of the last freeze:

North Carolina: https://www.weather.gov/rah/FrostFreezemaps

South Carolina: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/ClimateData/SC_Frost_Freeze_Dates.pdf

USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. Starting in 2024, the Carolinas were adjusted because of warming temperatures and rapidly increasing data sets.