In fact, about 80 per cent of the country has seen its zone increase because of warming temperatures. For example, some zones in southern Ontario have expanded by half a zone or more. The researchers point to an increase in grape cultivation in the region by 25 per cent from 1990 to 2020, and say shifts in the hardiness zones could lead to “new horticultural opportunities over time.”

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“Climate change, it’s not even so much about warming. It’s about the instability, right? And the unpredictability of the weather and the extreme examples of weather that we’re dealing with,” she said, adding that makes it especially hard for new growers to try out new plants.