Northeastern Highlands

The Northeastern Highlands take in the Adirondacks, the Green and White Mountains, and the wooded uplands of northern Maine, from Kingston and Plattsburgh across to Rutland, Concord, and Bangor. Elevation and latitude both work against a long season here: winters are severe, summers are short and cool, and soils are thin, rocky, and acidic. Natives like Oswego-tea, New York ironweed, and clammy azalea are adapted to that cold and acidity, and they come back reliably where marginally hardy nursery stock does not.

Conditions: Thin rocky acidic soils over glacial till, 40–50 inches of precipitation with heavy snow, short cool summers and severe winters.

Cities and areas: Kingston, Plattsburgh, Rutland, Concord, Bangor, Lake Placid.