What Planting Zone Is Maryland?

Maryland ranges from USDA zone 5B, where the lowest temperature expected each year can reach minus 15 to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, to USDA zone 7B, where the lowest temperature reaches 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Geography

• Maryland's Eastern Shore and the Southern Maryland counties, as well as Central Maryland counties bordering the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore, fall in zone 7. Zone 6 claims the Washington suburbs and Frederick County, as well as much of the state near the Pennsylvania border. Only a slice of Western Maryland's Garrett County falls into zone 5.

Expert Insight

• When selecting plants for Maryland, it is better to select plants that are more cold tolerant, notes the GrowIt.com website. So if you have a site in zone 7 that borders zone 6, search for zone 6 plants first.

Significance

• Trees such as the Japanese maple and flowering dogwood are rated for zone 5 by the National Arboretum and thus can survive throughout the state. Zone 6 plantings such as common boxwood, English ivy and the California privet can survive everywhere except far western Maryland. Zone 7 plants such as the bigleaf maple or English holly will do better nearer the warm environs of the Chesapeake.