California
Planting zones in Inyo County, California
This county spans USDA zones 7a to 9a, so there is no single zone for Inyo County and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 44% of its ZIP codes are zone 8b; the rest are not.
Your ZIP code
Get the exact answer for your address
Everything above describes Inyo County, California as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.
Inyo County does not have one planting answer
Its own weather stations disagree about 14 of the 32 crops in this table right now, so any single list would be wrong for part of the county. That is not a gap in the data — it is what the data says.
- Shortest season
- 196 days
HAIWEE, CA US (USC00043710) - Longest season
- 350 days
DEATH VALLEY NP, CA US (USC00042319)
154 days of growing season separate those two stations, and both serve ZIP codes in Inyo County. The ZIP lookup above answers for one address instead of averaging a place that has no average.
Why the hardiness zone does not settle this
A USDA zone is a winter-minimum statistic. It was never a growing-season one, and it does not behave like one: within a single zone the growing season runs a median 54 days wider at the 10th–90th percentile, and annual growing degree days vary by 2.02×.
The zones also overlap rather than stack — 30% of zone 6b freezes before the median zone 6a station. The zone tells you what survives your winter; the station tells you what finishes before your autumn.
All 4 stations agreeAt least one station
Every one of the 4 NOAA stations serving this county counts April 17 – November 1 as growing season (198 days). Widening to any single station gives January 1 – December 19 (352 days).
That is a 154-day difference inside one county — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.
Which zone you are in depends where you are
Inyo County covers 4 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the county one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — fine for the 44% in zone 8b and wrong for the other 56%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8b | 4 | 44% | |
| 8a | 2 | 22% | |
| 9a | 2 | 22% | |
| 7a | 1 | 11% |
Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the county's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.
Your freeze dates
Across the 4 NOAA stations serving this county. These are medians — half of years freeze later than the date shown — so treat the later end of each range as the cautious one.
The growing season runs 196–350 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 91.8–114.8 °F in June–August. That is past the point where tomato and pepper pollen fails and cool-season greens bolt, so in this county heat decides as much as frost does. Summer rain over the same months runs 0.3–0.6" across those 4 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. The middle station covers about 3% of it, so a summer garden here is watered rather than rained on. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 100 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.
Every ZIP code in Inyo County
Zones are published per ZIP code, not per county, so this is the exact answer rather than the county's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.
| ZIP code | USDA zone | Nearest NOAA station | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 92328 | 9a | Death Valley Np, CA | 14.3 km |
| 92384 | 8b | Pahrump 4 NW, NV | 24.9 km |
| 92389 | 9a | Pahrump 4 NW, NV | 52.4 km |
| 93513 | 7a | Independence, CA | 29.0 km |
| 93522 | 8b | Haiwee, CA | 37.9 km |
| 93526 | 8a | Independence, CA | 8.2 km |
| 93530 | 8b | Haiwee, CA | 39.9 km |
| 93545 | 8a | Independence, CA | 26.2 km |
| 93549 | 8b | Haiwee, CA | 18.8 km |
ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.
When to start seeds in Inyo County
Every date below is anchored on the last spring freeze at each station and reported as a range across all 4 of them, because no one station speaks for the county.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🫘 Bush Beans | Direct sow | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Set out | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Direct sow | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Set out | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Direct sow | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Set out | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🌽 Sweet Corn | Direct sow | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Set out | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Direct sow | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Set out | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Direct sow | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Set out | January 8 – April 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Direct sow | January 15 – May 1 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Direct sow | January 15 – May 1 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Set out | January 15 – May 1 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Set out | January 15 – May 1 | 2 wk after |
| 🫘 Southern Peas | Direct sow | January 15 – May 1 | 2 wk after |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Set out | January 15 – May 1 | 2 wk after |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Start indoors | February 1 – November 6 | 8 wk before |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Start indoors | February 1 – November 6 | 8 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🫛 Peas | Direct sow | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Spinach | Direct sow | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Start indoors | February 15 – November 20 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Start indoors | February 22 – November 27 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Start indoors | February 22 – November 27 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Start indoors | February 22 – November 27 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Arugula | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🥕 Beets | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Mustard Greens | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🌶️ Okra | Start indoors | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🌱 Radishes | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🥔 Turnips | Direct sow | March 1 – December 4 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Set out | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥕 Carrots | Direct sow | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Direct sow | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Set out | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Start indoors | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Set out | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Direct sow | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Set out | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Direct sow | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Set out | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Start indoors | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Start indoors | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Start indoors | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Start indoors | March 8 – December 11 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Direct sow | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Set out | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Set out | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Cilantro | Direct sow | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Set out | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Direct sow | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Set out | March 15 – December 18 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Dill | Direct sow | March 22 – December 25 | 1 wk before |
Offsets are published guidance; the dates they land on are computed from measured NOAA normals. The seed-starting tool does this for your own ZIP code and counts the days.
What survives the winter changes across Inyo County
Zone 7a carries 58 of 74 perennial edibles; zone 9a carries 46. The best number is not always the warmest zone — the count peaks in the middle and falls both ways, because the warm end loses plants to insufficient winter chill and summer heat, not to cold.
Hardiness ranges are a judgement, published by growers rather than measured; the zone they are compared against is measured. On a warm-end verdict, check with your local extension service — a coastal zone 8 and an inland zone 8 are not the same summer.
At least one station here freezes across the new year, which puts the two ends of a spread on opposite sides of the calendar. Drawing it would produce a bar spanning almost the whole year and meaning nothing, so none is drawn.
The 4 stations behind these numbers
All 4 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 73 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole county.
A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.
These are the stations this county's ZIP codes actually cite as nearest — not a claim that each one sits inside its boundary, since a rural ZIP legitimately reaches over it. Every figure above comes from them, and each is named so you can check it.
| Station | NOAA ID | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death Valley Np, CA | USC00042319 | January 1 | December 19 | 350 days |
| Haiwee, CA | USC00043710 | April 17 | November 1 | 196 days |
| Independence, CA | USC00044232 | March 31 | November 9 | 224 days |
| Pahrump 4 NW, NV | USC00265890 | March 29 | November 3 | 218 days |
These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.
Your own ZIP
Work out your own dates
This page describes a whole county. Every tool below answers for one ZIP code, which is the grain the underlying data is published at.
Other places to compare
Inyo County sits in California. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.
More of California
- Mariposa County, CA 7a, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
- Mono County, CA 6a–7a
- Nevada County, CA 6b, 8b, 9a, 9b
- Sierra County, CA 6b, 7a, 8a, 8b, 9a
- Glenn County, CA 9a–9b
- Del Norte County, CA 8a, 9b
- Humboldt County, CA 9a–9b
- Mendocino County, CA 9a–10a
- Siskiyou County, CA 6b, 7b, 8a, 8b
- Calaveras County, CA 8b–9b
- Lassen County, CA 6a–7a
- Plumas County, CA 6b–8a
Counties with the same zones — 7a, 8a, 8b, 9a
Matched on the exact zone set, not a dominant zone, so the winter answer on these pages really is the same one as here.
Gear
If you want to act on this
Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.
- Shade clothSummer highs here average 100 °F, at or above the 90 °F point where lettuce and spinach bolt and tomato pollen fails.
- Row cover and frost clothThe season here closes at the first fall freeze dated above — a cover buys back some of those days at the end.
- MulchFor the perennials nearest their cold limit in zone 7a, where an insulated crown is what decides whether they come back.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.
Sources
Where these numbers come from
Hardiness zones are the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. Freeze dates and growing-season lengths are NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, taken per station and cited above by name and NOAA ID.
County boundaries come from the Census ZCTA-to-county relation, which is what places each ZIP code — and which treats parishes, boroughs and census areas as county equivalents. No station is chosen to represent this county: every range above is taken across all of them and the count is stated, because picking one would be a judgement dressed as a measurement.