Choosing the right plants for your climate area
Diggers climate maps are designed to make the selection of plants appropriate for your area easy!
As a Diggers Club member, we'll assign you with a Heat Zone (HZ) and Cold Zone (CZ) based on your specific location, which will help you easily determine whether a plant is able to successfully grow in your area. You can find your specific Heat and Cold Zone by logging into the website, on your membership card or the back of your latest member magazine.
By choosing plants appropriate to your climate zone, you’re off to a good start in ensuring success in the garden.
To find suitable plants online, simply log in and use the filter on the left hand side to 'show plants for my climate zone'.
Heat Zone (HZ)
The Heat Zone of an area is determined by the average number of days above 30°C the zone will experience in a year. Some plants will not perform in extreme prolonged heat, especially in the tropics where the lack of chill prevents fruiting and flowering.
Excessive heat is the major cause of plant failure in Australia - some plants suffer physiological damage when the temperature rises above 30°C. The heat zone map indicates how many days over 30°C each of the 14 Heat Zones experiences, and helps you choose plants that suit your climate.
Cold Zone (CZ)
The Cold Zone of an area is determined by the absolute minimum temperature that could occur in a given area. For example, if a plant has a CZ rating of 9a it can survive temperatures as low as -7°C, whereas a plant with a CZ rating of 10 will likely be killed by a frost.
Cold zone examples within major areas:
Temperate (CZ 8, 9a, 9b) include Canberra, Kalgoorlie, Bendigo, Ballarat, Albury, Mildura, Griffith, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Adelaide Hills, Riverland, Riverina and Sunraysia
Sub-tropical (CZ 10) include Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Albany, Bunbury, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Bega, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and the Sunshine Coast
Tropical (CZ 11 & 12) include Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Broome, Mt Isa and Perth.