What USDA hardiness zone is Orange County, Vermont?

Orange County, Vermont spans USDA hardiness zones 4b to 5a. 96% of its ZIP codes are zone 5a, so there is no single zone for the county.

When is the last spring frost in Orange County, Vermont?

The median last spring freeze runs May 9 – May 16 across the 6 NOAA weather stations serving Orange County, Vermont, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

Vermont

Planting zones in Orange County, Vermont

This county spans USDA zones 4b to 5a, so there is no single zone for Orange County and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 96% of its ZIP codes are zone 5a; the rest are not.

USDA zones 4b–5a 2 zones across 26 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 26 26 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 6 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 687 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes Orange County, Vermont 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.

The growing season in Orange County is closing

Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives September 28 – October 2 across the 6 NOAA stations serving this county .

Your next season already has a date

The first job of it is 🧅 Green Onions, start indoors, around March 14 – March 21 — counted back from a last spring freeze of May 9 – May 16 here.

Every spring date for your ZIP →

These are ranges across the whole county. The ZIP lookup above gives the dates from your own nearest station instead.

All 6 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 6 NOAA stations serving this county counts May 16 – September 28 as growing season (135 days). Widening to any single station gives May 9 – October 2 (146 days).

Which zone you are in depends where you are

Orange County covers 2 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the county one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — fine for the 96% in zone 5a and wrong for the other 4%. Here is the actual split.

Zone	ZIP codes	Share
5a	25	96%
4b	1	4%

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

Last spring freeze May 9 – May 16

First fall freeze September 28 – October 2

Across the 6 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 133–145 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 74.4–79.7 °F in June–August. Summer rain over the same months runs 12.0–14.8" across those 6 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 96% 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 76 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

Every ZIP code in Orange 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
05033	5a	Corinth, VT	11.5 km
05036	5a	Chelsea 2 NW, VT	8.5 km
05038	5a	Chelsea 2 NW, VT	3.0 km
05039	5a	Corinth, VT	6.3 km
05040	5a	Corinth, VT	11.9 km
05041	5a	Chelsea 2 NW, VT	7.5 km
05043	5a	Union Village Dam, VT	4.0 km
05045	5a	Corinth, VT	14.9 km
05051	5a	Benton 5 SW, NH	14.5 km
05058	5a	Union Village Dam, VT	10.1 km
05060	5a	Rochester, VT	14.4 km
05061	5a	Chelsea 2 NW, VT	11.6 km
05069	4b	Benton 5 SW, NH	21.6 km
05070	5a	Union Village Dam, VT	9.6 km
05072	5a	Union Village Dam, VT	14.5 km
05075	5a	Union Village Dam, VT	6.4 km
05076	5a	Corinth, VT	17.1 km
05077	5a	Chelsea 2 NW, VT	11.5 km
05079	5a	Corinth, VT	5.6 km
05081	5a	Benton 5 SW, NH	16.1 km
05083	5a	Corinth, VT	10.7 km
05086	5a	Corinth, VT	11.4 km
05649	5a	Corinth, VT	15.2 km
05654	5a	Barre Montpelier AP, VT	10.3 km
05675	5a	Chelsea 2 NW, VT	8.7 km
05679	5a	Barre Montpelier AP, VT	11.2 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 Orange County

Every date below is anchored on the last spring freeze at each station and reported as a range across all 6 of them, because no one station speaks for the county.

Crop	Job	When	Offset
🧅 Green Onions	Start indoors	March 14 – March 21	8 wk before
🌶️ Peppers	Start indoors	March 14 – March 21	8 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🥬 Collards	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🥬 Kale	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🫛 Peas	Direct sow	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🥬 Spinach	Direct sow	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🍠 Sweet Potato	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🍅 Tomatoes	Start indoors	March 28 – April 4	6 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Start indoors	April 4 – April 11	5 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Start indoors	April 4 – April 11	5 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Start indoors	April 4 – April 11	5 wk before
🥬 Arugula	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🥬 Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🥕 Beets	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🥬 Mustard Greens	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🌶️ Okra	Start indoors	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🌱 Radishes	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🥔 Turnips	Direct sow	April 11 – April 18	4 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Set out	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥕 Carrots	Direct sow	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Direct sow	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Set out	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥒 Cucumbers	Start indoors	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Set out	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Direct sow	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Set out	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Direct sow	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Set out	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🎃 Pumpkins	Start indoors	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🎃 Summer Squash	Start indoors	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🎃 Winter Squash	Start indoors	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥒 Zucchini	Start indoors	April 18 – April 25	3 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Direct sow	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Set out	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Set out	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🌿 Cilantro	Direct sow	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Set out	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Direct sow	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Set out	April 25 – May 2	2 wk before
🌿 Dill	Direct sow	May 2 – May 9	1 wk before
🫘 Bush Beans	Direct sow	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Set out	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Direct sow	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Set out	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Direct sow	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Set out	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🌽 Sweet Corn	Direct sow	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🍅 Tomatoes	Set out	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Direct sow	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Set out	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Direct sow	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Set out	May 16 – May 23	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Direct sow	May 23 – May 30	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Direct sow	May 23 – May 30	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Set out	May 23 – May 30	2 wk after
🌶️ Peppers	Set out	May 23 – May 30	2 wk after
🫘 Southern Peas	Direct sow	May 23 – May 30	2 wk after
🍠 Sweet Potato	Set out	May 23 – May 30	2 wk after

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 Orange County

Zone 5a carries 48 of 74 perennial edibles; zone 4b carries 34. 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.

Cautious — shortens the seasonMedian across stationsOptimistic

Last spring freeze: Plan to June 3 to be careful. Median May 9 – May 16 across 6 stations; April 28 is the optimistic end.
First fall freeze: Plan to September 12 to be careful. Median September 28 – October 2 across 6 stations; October 17 is the optimistic end.

NOAA publishes these as probabilities, not averages — the middle figure is a median, so half of years fall either side of it. The cautious end is the 10% tail: in roughly nine years in ten the freeze falls on the safe side of it.

The 6 stations behind these numbers

All 6 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 46 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
Barre Montpelier AP, VT	USW00094705	May 16	September 29	136 days
Benton 5 SW, NH	USC00270681	May 15	September 28	133 days
Chelsea 2 NW, VT	USC00431363	May 9	October 1	143 days
Corinth, VT	USC00431565	May 14	September 29	136 days
Rochester, VT	USC00436893	May 13	October 2	141 days
Union Village Dam, VT	USC00438556	May 9	October 2	145 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

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

More of Vermont

Counties with the same zones — 4b–5a

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.

Trunk wrapZone 4b is cold enough that winter sun on a young trunk does more damage than the cold does.
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 4b, 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.