Something interesting to note about snow and zones of hardiness and the Heat Zones

[Anthony]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone

Note - Another issue is that the hardiness zones do not take into account the reliability of the snow cover. Snow acts as an insulator against extreme cold, protecting the root system of hibernating plants. If the snow cover is reliable, the actual temperature to which the roots are exposed will not be as low as the hardiness zone number would indicate. As an example, Quebec City in Canada is located in zone 4, but can rely on a significant snow cover every year, making it possible to cultivate plants normally rated for zones 5 or 6. But, in Montreal, located to the southwest in zone 5, it is sometimes difficult to cultivate plants adapted to the zone because of the unreliable snow cover.
____________________________________________________________________________

How would this affect your area ?

And then down to Heat Zones.

I got curious about Norway, just what could they grow, outdoors or in an unheated garage or other.[ Dr.Greenthumb ]

Am I in zone 13 ? - limit low 69 deg.F [ limit 12 hours in a day ] and limit high 93 deg,F [ for less than 30 minutes in a day ] - no chance of frost?
Good Day
Anthony

 

[Dav4]

Snow is nice when you have it, but I would never count on it as a means of overwintering, particularly when I lived in zone 6 MA (there, we averaged 3.5 feet per year, but could have 6 inches of slush one winter and 6 feet or more the next). All trees were placed on the ground out of the wind and sun and they all were heavily mulched with wood chips...even the ones inside my unheated garage.