USDA hardiness zone 5
Zone 5 plants and yard ideas
Zone 5 has real winters, down to twenty below, and a proper five-month growing season. It is the sweet spot for cottage and woodland planting: peonies, lilac, hydrangea, coneflower, bee balm, hosta, and most of the flowering trees and shrubs sold in northern nurseries.
- Coldest night
- -20 to -10 °F
- the USDA definition of the zone
- Rated for zone 5
- 417 plants
- 176 of them proven in containers
- Typical of
- Des Moines, Madison, Bozeman and Burlington
- 2023 USDA map · check your ZIP for the exact zone
Styles that suit zone 5
Each one is a real render from our engine. Styles whose plants would not survive a zone 5 winter, or its summer, are not listed.
Modern yard ideas
Clean lines, structured beds
Cottage garden ideas
Abundant flowering borders
Classic curb appeal ideas
Manicured curb appeal
Native plant landscaping ideas
Regional natives, tidy beds
Japanese garden ideas
Serene Zen garden
Coastal garden ideas
Breezy seaside planting
Modern farmhouse landscaping ideas
Tidy, relaxed, white blooms
Woodland shade garden ideas
Ferns & dappled shade
Prairie meadow yard ideas
Naturalistic grasses
Pollinator garden ideas
Nectar-rich & buzzing
Kitchen garden ideas
Raised beds & herbs
Rain garden ideas
Eco runoff basin
Fire-wise landscaping ideas
Defensible space for wildfire
Outdoor living yard ideas
Seating, shade & string lights
Xeriscape ideas
Low-water, cold-hardy beds
Plants rated for zone 5
A sample from each group, drawn from the 417 library plants whose stated hardiness range includes zone 5. Every card opens the plant's page with its sources.
Trees and flowering trees · 138 rated
Shrubs and hedges · 97 rated
Perennials, grasses and groundcovers · 170 rated
Palms and succulents · 7 rated
What winter does here
Most temperate perennials are fine. Watch zone-6 shrubs like some hydrangeas and crape myrtle: they live, but often die back to the ground.
A zone is an average of the coldest nights, not a guarantee. The plant pages show a freeze-risk estimate for a specific ZIP when you enter one.
Your yard, your zone
See your own home designed for zone 5
One photo of your yard. The house stays, the yard is restyled, and every plant in the result is a real species that survives a zone 5 winter.
Design my yard