Sun scorches the crumbly dirt. Leaves flit from branch to pile. The snow trickles across the slightly froze earth. Next, new buds burst from the soil. But across our planet, the timing for all nature's ebbs and flows is well, ebbing and flowing a little different these days.

For gardeners and farmers, this means a shift of the hardiness zones. These zones split the country up by 10 degree increments, letting a gardener know the pets plants for their area compared to others. The zones are feeling a little more heat these days.

The increase in temperature didn't just start. The Arbor Day Foundation put together a little animation to show the change from 1990 to 2006. The real news comes because new maps are out. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released new maps in January showing, you guessed it, a change in the zones. The National Wildlife Foundation paired the two together to show the shift.

Interested in seeing your garden zone? Visit the USDA 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone Map. For the first time, the map allows clicking and searching within your area.

So why do these zones even matter? Well, different plants grow in different zones. So the perennials that use to pop up, might disappear because of the hotter summers or drier winters. Certain plants grow in certain areas.

Different plants also mean different pests zooming in and munching on crops. Gardeners will face new problems, such as kudzu, a wild plant of the South, will start reaching all the way into areas of southern Nebraska.

Real world changes cause real world problems, from gardens to crops our vegetation could be looking different, but at least now you know.