This year, the USDA updated its zones "plant hardiness map" for the whole country, with Zone 1 being the coldest and Zones 12-13 the warmest.
North Carolina used to be Zone 7. Now, we're Zone 8.
They're misleading people into thinking incorrectly about planting conditions.
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/#I checked the garden and the plants look okay. I'd have been pissed had we done all that work for naught.
We never plant anything before April 1st because there's ALWAYS a cold snap during March before it starts warming up for good. This year, it's almost a month later.