Guides · Climate zone
Zone 8b: what survives your winter
Winters to −9 °C. Hardiness is the first filter on any plant list: a species below your zone is not a risk, it is a purchase with a date of death.
Zone 8b is a USDA hardiness zone: the average coldest winter temperature is around -9 °C. It does not tell you about summer heat, rainfall or wind, and it is not the only thing that matters — but it is the one that decides, on its own, whether a plant is alive in March.
Places we read as zone 8b: Calvados, Normandie, Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Gers, Occitanie, Haute-Garonne, Occitanie, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, Lot-et-Garonne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, Mayenne, Pays de la Loire, Paris, Île-de-France, Seine-Maritime, Normandie, and others.
Two local corrections are worth making yourself. A city centre, a south wall or a courtyard runs half a zone to a full zone warmer than the open countryside around it. A valley floor where cold air pools, or an exposed plateau, runs colder. If your garden sits in one of those, use the neighbouring zone instead.
Hardy in zone 8b
28 species — 4 trees, 2 hedging species, 7 shrubs, 4 grasses, 7 perennials, 4 edibles. Prices are French retail nursery prices per plant, 2026.
| Species | Type | Height | Spacing | Price | Why it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field mapleAcer campestre · Érable champêtre | tree | 8,00 m | 6,00 m | 165 € | The reliable small native canopy for heavy ground; takes clay and wind without sulking. |
| OliveOlea europaea · Olivier | tree | 5,00 m | 5,00 m | 240 € | Needs sharp drainage; on clay it is planted on a raised gravel mound, never in a sump. |
| Snowy mespilusAmelanchier lamarckii · Amélanchier | tree | 5,00 m | 4,00 m | 145 € | Three seasons out of one small tree: white blossom, edible fruit, red autumn. |
| Sweet cherryPrunus avium · Cerisier | tree | 7,00 m | 6,00 m | 78 € | Prune only in summer: a winter cut on a cherry invites bacterial canker. |
| HornbeamCarpinus betulus · Charme | hedge | 2,00 m | 0,33 m | 6 € | Holds its brown leaf through winter and is the cheapest good hedge on clay. |
| SilverberryElaeagnus × ebbingei · Chalef | hedge | 2,50 m | 0,60 m | 15 € | Evergreen, salt- and wind-proof: the hedge for an exposed or coastal boundary. |
| Cotton lavenderSantolina chamaecyparissus · Santoline | shrub | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 8 € | Silver mounds that hold their shape all winter and ask for nothing. |
| Japanese hollyIlex crenata 'Dark Green' · Houx crénelé | shrub | 0,60 m | 0,50 m | 14 € | Used instead of box: same clipped form, and box moth does not touch it. |
| LaurustinusViburnum tinus · Laurier-tin | shrub | 2,50 m | 1,20 m | 16 € | Evergreen screen that flowers in January, which is when you need it. |
| LavenderLavandula × intermedia 'Grosso' · Lavandin | shrub | 0,80 m | 0,60 m | 9 € | Dies of wet feet, not of cold. On clay it goes on a 20 cm gravel ridge. |
| Panicled hydrangeaHydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' · Hortensia paniculé | shrub | 2,00 m | 1,20 m | 18 € | The one hydrangea that takes real sun in the north and heavy soil everywhere. |
| Rock roseCistus × purpureus · Ciste | shrub | 1,20 m | 1,00 m | 12 € | Flowers for six weeks on poor ground and resents being fed. |
| RosemarySalvia rosmarinus · Romarin | shrub | 1,20 m | 0,80 m | 11 € | Evergreen structure and a kitchen crop from the same plant. |
| Autumn moor grassSesleria autumnalis · Seslérie d'automne | grass | 0,50 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Plant in blocks as a low matrix: it closes the ground and stops weeding. |
| Golden oatsStipa gigantea · Avoine géante | grass | 1,80 m | 1,00 m | 13 € | Holds its structure through winter and catches low western light. |
| Japanese forest grassHakonechloa macra · Herbe du Japon | grass | 0,40 m | 0,40 m | 12 € | The best grass for shade, and it never seeds itself where you did not want it. |
| Purple moor grassMolinia caerulea 'Transparent' · Molinie | grass | 1,40 m | 0,70 m | 11 € | One of the few good grasses for heavy, damp ground. |
| Hardy geraniumGeranium × oxonianum 'Claridge Druce' · Géranium vivace | perennial | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 6 € | Covers ground under shrubs on heavy soil and asks for one cut a year. |
| Lenten roseHelleborus × hybridus · Hellébore | perennial | 0,50 m | 0,50 m | 14 € | Flowers in February under the canopy, when nothing else does. |
| Mediterranean spurgeEuphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii · Euphorbe des garrigues | perennial | 1,10 m | 0,80 m | 10 € | Architectural all winter. Wear gloves: the sap burns skin in sunlight. |
| Soft shield fernPolystichum setiferum · Polystic à soies | perennial | 0,70 m | 0,60 m | 11 € | Evergreen fern, unfazed by dry shade once its second year is past. |
| ThymeThymus vulgaris · Thym | perennial | 0,30 m | 0,30 m | 5 € | Plant it where you walk past it, at the terrace edge and along the path. |
| Wood sageSalvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' · Sauge des bois | perennial | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 7 € | Flowers twice if you cut it back hard after the first flush. |
| YarrowAchillea 'Terracotta' · Achillée | perennial | 0,70 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | Flat heads that read well against grasses, and it does not need staking on poor soil. |
| Autumn raspberryRubus idaeus 'Zeva' · Framboisier remontant | edible | 1,60 m | 0,50 m | 7 € | An autumn variety is cut to the ground each February: no canes to tie in. |
| BlackcurrantRibes nigrum 'Andega' · Cassis | edible | 1,50 m | 1,50 m | 12 € | Fruits on last year's wood: take a third of the oldest stems out every winter. |
| Garden mintMentha spicata · Menthe verte | edible | 0,60 m | 0,40 m | 5 € | Only ever planted in a sunken pot. In open ground it takes the bed. |
| StrawberryFragaria × ananassa 'Mara des Bois' · Fraisier | edible | 0,25 m | 0,35 m | 4 € | Replace the plants every third year: yield halves after that. |
We read your zone from your postcode as the first thing on the Brief, and every species in your Dossier is checked against it before it is drawn.