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Re: what zone is Washington DC in?

Depends on where you are in the Washington, D.C. area. On the east and south side of the city, away from the Blue Ridge Mountains, winters tend to be a bit warmer and shorter then they are where I live, snuggled right up against the mountains. And in in the mountains themselves, just a few miles away, it's even colder.

In the spring, it's interesting to drive from a friend's house in the Blue Ridge mountains, on the eastern edge of West Virginia (only about 60 miles from D.C.), down into the Loudoun Valley area of western  northern Virginia, then eastward through the Piedmont past the fall line into Alexandria on the Potomac River and watch the progression of bloom along the way. Plants just in bud in Jefferson County, West Virginia are frequently in full bloom in Loudoun County, Virginia, and past their prime when you get into Alexandria.

And plants that easily survive at a friend's house in Alexandria simply won't survive here at my house, only 45 miles to the west.

So, if you're talking about DC, east, and south, I'd say a solid zone 7. West of the fall line, a zone 6 would be safer, and in the mountains, it can dip in some places into zone 5 ,especially if you're talking about places like Garrett County, Maryland, about 3-1/2 hours to the west of D.C At these higher elevations, spring comes late, fall comes early, and winter is brutal!

Generally, although the USDA map says our last frost date for my area is around April 15 (if I remember correctly), I generally plan on having frost as late as May 5, and our first frost date out here is about October 15.

I agree with Marge about clean-up days, even though our season here in the western part of the area is a little shorter than hers. September clean-up is much too early. Even in October, lots of plants are still going strong. After the first hard frost, the tender plants are gone, but the rest don't go until a good hard freeze. When the hard freeze has been delayed and I've protected plants through that first frost, I've had plants producing, albeit not abundantly, into late October.

Thus, generally, my vegetable garden clean-up is in late October through about mid-November.

Hope this helps.

Lina Burton 
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