AWS wintering in 9a

[Psyche]

I moved from 7a to 9a zone. Do I need to disconnect everything for the winter?  Could I just leave them in and keep growing?

[gardendoc]

I'm in 9a and I don't disconnect anything.

[Psyche]

Thanks for the info.  The winters are a bit chilly, but snow disappeared as soon as it hit the ground.  No snow at all last year.

We'll see how it goes next winter in July.  I'm going to leave it out this time.

[mjb8743]

Is 9a Australia the same as 9a here in the US?

[Psyche]

Is 9a Australia the same as 9a here in the US?

Short answer is, yes, but it’s complicated.

The zones are made by USDA, and they don’t survey Australia. The zones are so heavily used by gardener guides that there are attempts to describe Australia in those terms.  The USDA zones go by the minimum winter temperature.  Something just doesn’t “translate” right using the same standard to describe growing zones.  I might be more like a 8b, but that’s my option. Australia is hot with some areas marked as zone 13!

The local government uses a 4-5 tiered system with name descriptions that are more intuitive.  I don’t believe it has enough resolution to be helpful.

Most serious, Aussie gardeners use a two number system using the a hot and cold zone.  Cold zone is the same as USDA standard. Hot zone is based on days above 30C (86F).  I’m hot zone 4.

https://www.diggers.com.au/shop/ordering-information/climate-maps/