What USDA hardiness zone is Matagorda County, Texas?

Every ZIP code in Matagorda County, Texas is USDA hardiness zone 9b, from the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

When is the last spring frost in Matagorda County, Texas?

The median last spring freeze runs February 1 – February 20 across the 4 NOAA weather stations serving Matagorda County, Texas, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

Texas

Planting zones in Matagorda County, Texas

Every ZIP code in this county is USDA zone 9b — so unlike most of the places people look up, there is one right answer here and it holds wherever you are in the county.

USDA zone 9b The same in all 12 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 12 12 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 4 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 1,093 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes Matagorda County, Texas 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.

What you can sow in Matagorda County now

5 of 32 crops that every one of the 4 NOAA stations serving this county agrees still has time to mature — with a week in hand, so this holds until the page is next rebuilt.

🧅 Green Onions 55d
🥬 Swiss Chard 55d
🥬 Kale 60d
🥬 Collards 60d
🥕 Carrots 70d

Counted against a first fall freeze of December 3 – December 17 across 4 of those stations, NOAA 1991–2020 normals.

A further 19 crops depend on where in Matagorda County you are — its stations disagree about them. The ZIP lookup above settles it for one address.

All 4 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 4 NOAA stations serving this county counts February 20 – December 3 as growing season (286 days). Widening to any single station gives February 1 – December 17 (319 days).

That is a 33-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.

Your freeze dates

Last spring freeze February 1 – February 20

First fall freeze December 3 – December 17

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 290–319 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 87.4–92.3 °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 12.1–14.5" 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 98% of it, so expect to make up the rest. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 92 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

Every ZIP code in Matagorda 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
77414	9b	Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	11.9 km
77415	9b	Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	26.5 km
77419	9b	Palacios Muni AP, TX	16.4 km
77428	9b	Palacios Muni AP, TX	11.0 km
77440	9b	Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	19.3 km
77456	9b	Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	12.6 km
77457	9b	Matagorda No 2, TX	3.3 km
77458	9b	Danevang 1 W, TX	10.5 km
77465	9b	Palacios Muni AP, TX	3.0 km
77468	9b	Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	21.2 km
77482	9b	Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	14.4 km
77483	9b	Matagorda No 2, TX	14.7 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 Matagorda 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
🥬 Bok Choy	Start indoors	January 1 – December 28	5 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Start indoors	January 1 – December 28	5 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Start indoors	January 1 – December 28	5 wk before
🥬 Arugula	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🥬 Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🥕 Beets	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🥬 Collards	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🥬 Kale	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🥬 Mustard Greens	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🌶️ Okra	Start indoors	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🫛 Peas	Direct sow	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🌱 Radishes	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🥬 Spinach	Direct sow	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🍠 Sweet Potato	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🍅 Tomatoes	Start indoors	January 4 – December 25	6 wk before
🥔 Turnips	Direct sow	January 4 – January 23	4 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Set out	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥕 Carrots	Direct sow	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Direct sow	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Set out	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥒 Cucumbers	Start indoors	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Set out	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Direct sow	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Set out	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Direct sow	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Set out	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🎃 Pumpkins	Start indoors	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🎃 Summer Squash	Start indoors	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🎃 Winter Squash	Start indoors	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥒 Zucchini	Start indoors	January 11 – January 30	3 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Direct sow	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Set out	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Set out	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🌿 Cilantro	Direct sow	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Set out	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Direct sow	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Set out	January 18 – February 6	2 wk before
🌿 Dill	Direct sow	January 25 – February 13	1 wk before
🫘 Bush Beans	Direct sow	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Set out	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Direct sow	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Set out	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Direct sow	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Set out	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🌽 Sweet Corn	Direct sow	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🍅 Tomatoes	Set out	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Direct sow	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Set out	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Direct sow	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Set out	February 8 – February 27	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Direct sow	February 15 – March 6	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Direct sow	February 15 – March 6	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Set out	February 15 – March 6	2 wk after
🌶️ Peppers	Set out	February 15 – March 6	2 wk after
🫘 Southern Peas	Direct sow	February 15 – March 6	2 wk after
🍠 Sweet Potato	Set out	February 15 – March 6	2 wk after
🧅 Green Onions	Start indoors	December 7 – December 26	8 wk before
🌶️ Peppers	Start indoors	December 7 – December 26	8 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 lives through a zone 9b winter

Of 74 perennial edibles, 40 come through a zone 9b winter — and 32 fail here for being too warm rather than too cold, needing more winter chill than this county gets or more heat than they tolerate. Among the ones that work: Elderberry, Horseradish, Sunchoke, Walking Onion, Chives, Mint, American Persimmon, French Sorrel.

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 41 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
Bay City Wtr Wks, TX	USC00410569	February 20	December 3	290 days
Danevang 1 W, TX	USC00412266	February 15	December 8	301 days
Matagorda No 2, TX	USC00415659	February 5	December 16	310 days
Palacios Muni AP, TX	USW00012935	February 1	December 17	319 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

Matagorda County sits in Texas. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.

More of Texas

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 92 °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.

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.