All plants have their pros and cons.

Writers of plant and seed catalogs try to paint each plant in the best light.  Just as when a house listed as “cozy” usually translates to “small,” certain terms in plant catalogs raise flags in the minds of savvy consumers.  Here are some phrases to be aware of when flipping through those decadent, glossy catalogs this winter:

Hardiness

• This word trips up all new gardeners.  I once waited on a customer who didn’t know what it meant–and he had been a landscaper for seven years.  Hardy means a plant should survive a certain low winter temperature, as in a Zone 6 plant should survive a low temperature of -10°F.  Hardy does NOT mean the plant is fast-growing, resistant to disease, tolerant of extreme heat, or easy to grow.
• Sometimes catalog writers are a little too generous in their hardiness ratings of a plant.  This isn’t a rampant problem, but it does happen.  Consult an unbiased guide, like Michael Dirr’s Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
• Sometimes new plants are rushed to market without being properly evaluated.  Everyone in the industry remembers the infamous Limerock Ruby Episode of 2002.  This gorgeous ruby-red coreopsis was released to an enthusiastic public that was told–without much testing, apparently–that it was a Zone 4 plant.  Thousands were sold, but few re-emerged the following spring, and eventually the plant was reassigned to Zone 8.  Whoops.
• Occasionally, hardiness zones are described in a misleading way.  A certain catalog describes dwarf pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’) as being hardy all the way to Long Island.  “Wow,” you think, “New York!  It must be hardy.”  But because of the mediating influence of the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island actually enjoys mild Zone 7 winters, comparable to those of Tennessee.