I hear this question often. When I was chatting to a fellow gardener recently and told him I had called my blog, ‘Life in a Zone 3 Garden’, he said, “I thought we were 4a.”

We could be, depending on elevation, the aspect of the garden, whether it is fenced or not and whether it is next to a large body of water. So many factors make a difference to how an individual plant grows. To be on the safe side I went with Zone 3 on the Canada Map. The map is revised every few years as temperatures rise but it is a good guideline. It is due to be revised in 2024. It can be found here:

You can read how the guidelines are formulated, but need to adjust, depending on the factors that apply to you and nothing is written in stone. Plants like people, have different genetics and some just may turn out to be ‘tough cookies’. I know when I started gardening in a cold climate I was cautious. I was unable to find many plants I wanted to try because, at that time, there were few local resources. I headed to seed suppliers to find the plants I craved. Starting different seeds became an obsession and I would plant out the babies in May and wait a year to see what survived. Not only did I discover some tough cookies, which are now fortunately readily available in nurseries but I managed to start many perennials that are still difficult to find in a nursery.

Plants like Elecampane, Costmary, Sweet Cicely, Good King Henry, Motherwort, Anthriscus, Germander, and Bowman’s Root are not commonly found in nurseries or on the seed shelves. I used to get my seeds from ‘Gardens North’, which unfortunately no longer markets seeds but by Googling, most of these plants can be found. Many more plants are now available in nurseries than forty years ago but a lot of fun can be had by challenging your green fingers. Des Kennedy coined the phrase ‘horticultural bungee jumping,’ which I used when I retired from teaching. The children asked what I would do in retirement and when I told them, “go horticultural bungee jumping’, they of course took it literally and some shocked responses came back from parents!

Just a few of the plants that are not always easily found. In order: Ammi majus, Queen Anne’s Lace, annual; Bowman’s Root, Gillenia trifoliata, perennial; Elecampane, Inula helenium, perennial; Elecampane; Elecampane very top left of the border Government House, Victoria B.C.; Sweet Cicely, Myrrh, Myrrhis odorata, perennial; Sweet Cicely. All plants growing happily in my garden.

Zone 3 is a guideline to those who believe they live in that range of temperatures. In any year that theory might not hold. A sudden spell of very cold sustained temperatures may be the end for a plant that has survived many years before. I lost a beautiful Star Magnolia one year because of the -35C for weeks. The last year’s drought will have affected many trees if they were not deeply watered in the fall. We can see the effect on many forest evergreens already. The Flickers and other Woodpeckers move in to dead trees and easily strip the bark looking for bugs.

A body of water, even a small pond can have an effect on the soil temperatures around it. A less hardy clematis for example may grow beside a pond whereas planted away from the water, its roots may not survive. The north side of a house is very different than the south side. I have trees on the south side of my house and in the summer there can be an 8C difference from the exposed front, in the sun, and the south side in the shade.  Elevation is another large factor living in the mountains. The town of Kimberley just thirty five kilometers away but higher than where I live is interesting. The deeper snow cover in winter makes conditions more favourable for some trees such as Horse Chestnut but less favourable for many perennials, annuals and vegetables as the season is shorter.  Those plants still grow but the shorter season has to be factored in.

Humidity and water supply make a huge difference to how plants grow. The same temperatures that a Zone 3 demonstrates in the dry summers of the interior of B.C. will foster less growth than the equally cold temperatures of an Alaskan coastal forest.

Many visitors are surprised to see Prickly Pear, Opuntia, cactus growing in this zone when winter temperatures can be so low but grow they do. They are not common and can usually be found in a cultivated garden in this area. The low humidity and dry air conditions suit the cactus even though it might be covered in snow for three months of winter. The snow doesn’t hang around long enough to rot the plant its tough exterior helps protect it.

The zone classifications for the United States are slightly different than those of Canada so it is useful to remember that when browsing information. ‘Sunset Guides’, which are great resources, for example, use American Zones. However, it should not be a deterrent to the gardener. Zones are a guide and horticultural bungee jumping or stretching the limits of what can be grown in your piece of the world is a challenge and fun. A few losses will be rewarded with many discoveries and you will be able to brag a little with, “I can grow that in my garden!”