For all you gardeners out there, HGTV has launched a gardening zone finder, based on the USDA hardiness zones. It’s build in Flash and with a little glitch or two, it’s basically well designed and well conceived. You type in your zip code and a little box pops up that tells you your hardiness zone. It’s more accurate than just looking at the USDA map. For example, I always thought we were in zone 9b, but it turns out we’re actually in zone 8b. The best part is you can then view lists of various plants that do well in your region. As Paul James would say: “Cool.”

Two quibbles: The zone popper box opens two low on the screen, so you can’t see it unless you scroll down, and its plant recommendations doesn’t include succulents, as far as I can tell.