Plant Hardiness is the plant's ability to survive environmental conditions. One of the biggest environmental conditions our plants face in the City of Kawartha Lakes is the winter.

Plants develop and evolve to survive the conditions they are in. Some are drought tolerant, needing little water to survive (ie: Sedum, Cactus, Yucca, Prairie Smoke, Purple-Flowering Raspberry, Sumac). Some are shade tolerant, requiring little sun (ie: Heuchera, Astilbe, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Bleeding Hearts, Impatients, Trilliums). Some are cold hardy and able to survive extreme winter lows. These cold hardy plants have low hardiness zones. The lower the zone, the more able the plant is to survive our winter conditions.

When purchasing new plant material. Always make sure to check the hardiness zone. Some plant material that may be available at retailers, may not be cold hardy for where you want to plant them.