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Thursday - June 25, 2009

From: Troy, VA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Trees
Title: What kind of native Junipers will grow in zone 7?
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

What kinds of native Juniper will grow in zone 7 ? (besides Juniperus scopulorum and J.virginiana).

ANSWER:

Are you interested in zone 7 across the US, or just in Virginia?

Lets look at the Hardiness Zone Map for the US, and we see that zone 7 encompasses most of Virginia and runs southwesterly through Texas to New Mexico, and becomes a little tenuous in Arizona, Nevada, and California.

A list of species of native Junipers can be found in the NPIN Database. Out of the fifteen species on the list, only two are found in zone 7 in Virginia.

Juniperus virginiana (eastern redcedar) VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, MI, AR, OK, TX

Juniperus communis (common juniper) VA, NC

Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain juniper) TX, NM, NV (does not occur east of the state of Texas.)

We can find the following native junipers occuring in zone 7 as we travel west from Virginia.

Juniperus ashei (Ashe's juniper) AR to TX

Juniperus pinchotii (Pinchot's juniper) TX, OK, NM

Juniperus monosperma (oneseed juniper) OK, TX, NM, AZ

Juniperus occidentalis (western juniper) NV, CA

Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper) NV, CA