Hey Libby, welcome to Utah! The climate here is indeed all 4 glorious seasons. Ogden is a little North of Salt Lake, where I live, and is between 6-7 zone. This may have been a desert at one time but you wouldn't know it now. We've got plenty of nurseries and greenhouses here, though I'm not extremely familiar with Ogden's city. It's only about 30 minutes away though. :)

It gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter, though not as bad here on the valley floor. You should be able to grow most plants fairly successfully (I am growing some desert willow and pineapple guava usually only found in warmer climtes). I would, however, suggest an indoor winter for some of your more delicate plants.

Have fun and happy growing!

Hi LibbyLiz- I'm moving to Ogden in October-my hubby's with USFWS. We've never been there and I am curious how you like the town, weather, etc. I'm excited to hear Ogden is in zone 6/7. I thought it was going to be a lot colder! Anyway, any info would be great!
Danika

Ogden has a very nice climate. In summer the normal high is 92F, 4F warmer than SLC, with lows around 60. In winter the high are around 38F with lows at 19F, the low being 3F cooler than SLC. These are just average highs and lows, so obviously it will get much cooler in winter than just 19 and much hotter in summer 90F. The record all time high is 106F in 1931 and all time low is -26 back in 1937. Expect many sunny days because rainfall is only around an inch a month, which I think is a very nice rate, but a bit on the dry side. Good luck with everything, have fun in Utah!

Danika,

What does the "USFWS" stand for?

The weather around Layton/Hill Air Force Base is 80s-90s, dry, & a bit windy. We've had some beautiful, yet strong storms, which a prior UT-based friend in WA told me about before we moved here. They basically come in from the western mountains & head towards the Wasatch-Cache (eastern mountain chain), but she said they can circle around again.

The mountains are gorgeous!

The soil in my neck of the woods seems to be sandy loam, which my plants should love. I'll be buying flowering drought-tolerants & natives, probably come spring as I have a feeling I won't be able to find much come fall. My friend told me we can grow lots of things here because of the good weather.

About the area, that I know of so far, Home Depot's in Ogden, as is a mall & the stand-alone chain stores told about below, & a hospital or two. I don't go much to Ogden, probably because Layton's so close by & has practically everything we want or need, plus a whole lot more...

Our son's orthodontist & big senior H.S., our dentist, a hospital/med center & surgical center, shopping mall, stand-alone chain stores - Kohl's, Lowe's, Big K, Super Target, Super WalMart, & Shopko, restaurants, etc., & so on.

The only things I can say that's bad about the area is the dust storms that come across the Salt Lake, which smells of (dying?) brine shrimp (& vegetation?), the lack of trees, & it's so arid. Otherwise, I like it here!

I thought we were in zone 5?! We're in zone 7?! Woo Hoo!!!

USFWS= United States Fish and Wildlife Service. I haven't done much gardening because we have always lived in National Parks (they sort of frown on introducing exotic species to parks!), but I'm excited to get started. I want to try my hand at a kitchen garden with herbs and veggies and such. From the little I know, it seems like most everything should grow well in this area.
From the pictures I have seen on the Internet, the Ogden area seem a little greener than I would have thought (a good thing) for the middle of Utah. I'm kind of hoping for shady tree lined streets but maybe that's pushing it. We won't get there until late October so I'll just have to dream about my garden until after the snow comes and goes.
Thanks for the info about the area. Oh yeah- if anyone had any recommendations for a real estate agent that would be greatly appreciated.
Danika

Welcome to Utah. I think you will find that we have a very good, though challenging at times, climate for gardening. Sadly Danika your dreams of shady tree lined streets will be just that, a dream. For that you'll need to drive up the canyons. There are areas that the trees drape out over the road and make a canopy which is beautiful, especially in the fall. You may be a bit late for the height of the fall color which usally starts in mid september and seems to peak in early to mid October.
As for Ogden being a zone 7, I'm a bit sceptical about that, but hey I don't live there. I live about 90 miles south and am pushing zone 6.
I'll link a couple of sights that I've found to be a wealth of information:

Utah Native Plant Society

LibbyLiz I'm not sure how far Willard Bay is from you but I've heard that Willard Bay Gardens or Greenhouse (something like that) is great. If you check out the plant sources link at the Utah Native Plant Society's site their address and number should be listed there.
A couple of books to check out are Waterwise: Native Plants for Intermountain Landscapes and Native Plants for High Elevation Western Gardens. Hope this helps a bit.

Here is a link that might be useful: CUWCD Virtual Demonstration Garden

Thanks for those links! They should come in handy when I start plant shopping in the spring.