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Minimum temperatures:

10 to 20°F
-12 to -7°C

Zone 8 skirts near the western and southern borders of the United States, from the rainforests of Washington's coast to the coast of North Carolina. Winters here are relatively warm, growing seasons are long, and rhododendrons flourish. In the East, you'll encounter hot, humid summers; in the Northwest you'll enjoy mild summers with some of the best American gardening climate; and in the Southwest you'll have the definite winters and hot, dry summers of the desert. Plants for zone 8 include Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree), Choisya ternata (Mexican orange), Olearia haastii (New Zealand daisy-bush), Pittosporum tobira (Japanese pittosporum), Prunus laurocerasus (cherry-laurel) and Viburnum tinus (laurenstinus).

Now that you know your zone:

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