New Mexico
Planting zones in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
This county spans USDA zones 5b to 7a, so there is no single zone for Rio Arriba County and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 33% of its ZIP codes are zone 7a; the rest are not.
Your ZIP code
Get the exact answer for your address
Everything above describes Rio Arriba County, New Mexico 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 Rio Arriba County is closing
Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives September 13 – October 19 across the 14 NOAA stations serving this county .
Your next season already has a date
The first job of it is 🧅 Green Onions, start indoors, around March 2 – April 24 — counted back from a last spring freeze of April 27 – June 19 here.
These are ranges across the whole county. The ZIP lookup above gives the dates from your own nearest station instead.
All 14 stations agreeAt least one station
Every one of the 14 NOAA stations serving this county counts June 19 – September 13 as growing season (86 days). Widening to any single station gives April 27 – October 19 (175 days).
That is a 89-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
Rio Arriba 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 33% in zone 7a and wrong for the other 67%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7a | 10 | 33% | |
| 6b | 9 | 30% | |
| 5b | 8 | 27% | |
| 6a | 3 | 10% |
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 14 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 83–174 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 75–89.6 °F in June–August. Summer rain over the same months runs 3.5–10.3" across those 12 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 39% 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 82 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.
Every ZIP code in Rio Arriba 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87012 | 6b | Wolf Canyon, NM | 21.7 km |
| 87017 | 6b | Abiquiu Dam, NM | 28.5 km |
| 87029 | 5b | Lindrith 1 Wsw, NM | 12.8 km |
| 87046 | 5b | Lindrith 1 Wsw, NM | 12.6 km |
| 87064 | 6b | Abiquiu Dam, NM | 11.8 km |
| 87412 | 6b | Navajo Dam, NM | 18.9 km |
| 87510 | 7a | Abiquiu Dam, NM | 14.2 km |
| 87511 | 7a | Alcalde, NM | 7.3 km |
| 87515 | 6a | Brazos Lodge, NM | 21.7 km |
| 87516 | 7a | Abiquiu Dam, NM | 7.8 km |
| 87518 | 5b | El Vado Dam, NM | 18.2 km |
| 87520 | 5b | Chama, NM | 6.5 km |
| 87521 | 6a | Gascon, NM | 20.4 km |
| 87523 | 6b | Espanola, NM | 17.7 km |
| 87527 | 6b | Alcalde, NM | 20.7 km |
| 87528 | 5b | Dulce, NM | 19.9 km |
| 87530 | 7a | El Rito, NM | 1.4 km |
| 87532 | 7a | Espanola, NM | 6.1 km |
| 87537 | 7a | Abiquiu Dam, NM | 18.6 km |
| 87539 | 6b | El Rito, NM | 19.1 km |
| 87548 | 7a | Alcalde, NM | 14.9 km |
| 87549 | 7a | El Rito, NM | 20.9 km |
| 87551 | 5b | Tierra Amarilla 4 N, NM | 12.2 km |
| 87554 | 6b | Tres Piedras, NM | 14.4 km |
| 87566 | 7a | Alcalde, NM | 3.2 km |
| 87575 | 5b | El Vado Dam, NM | 13.2 km |
| 87577 | 5b | Tres Piedras, NM | 3.0 km |
| 87578 | 6a | Alcalde, NM | 26.2 km |
| 87581 | 6b | El Rito, NM | 17.9 km |
| 87582 | 7a | Alcalde, NM | 11.3 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 Rio Arriba County
Every date below is anchored on the last spring freeze at each station and reported as a range across all 14 of them, because no one station speaks for the county.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🧅 Green Onions | Start indoors | March 2 – April 24 | 8 wk before |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Start indoors | March 2 – April 24 | 8 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🫛 Peas | Direct sow | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Spinach | Direct sow | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Start indoors | March 16 – May 8 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Start indoors | March 23 – May 15 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Start indoors | March 23 – May 15 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Start indoors | March 23 – May 15 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Arugula | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🥕 Beets | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Mustard Greens | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🌶️ Okra | Start indoors | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🌱 Radishes | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🥔 Turnips | Direct sow | March 30 – May 22 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Set out | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥕 Carrots | Direct sow | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Direct sow | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Set out | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Start indoors | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Set out | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Direct sow | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Set out | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Direct sow | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Set out | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Start indoors | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Start indoors | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Start indoors | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Start indoors | April 6 – May 29 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Direct sow | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Set out | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Set out | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Cilantro | Direct sow | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Set out | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Direct sow | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Set out | April 13 – June 5 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Dill | Direct sow | April 20 – June 12 | 1 wk before |
| 🫘 Bush Beans | Direct sow | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Set out | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Direct sow | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Set out | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Direct sow | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Set out | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🌽 Sweet Corn | Direct sow | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Set out | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Direct sow | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Set out | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Direct sow | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Set out | May 4 – June 26 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Direct sow | May 11 – July 3 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Direct sow | May 11 – July 3 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Set out | May 11 – July 3 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Set out | May 11 – July 3 | 2 wk after |
| 🫘 Southern Peas | Direct sow | May 11 – July 3 | 2 wk after |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Set out | May 11 – July 3 | 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 Rio Arriba County
Zone 7a carries 58 of 74 perennial edibles; zone 5b carries 48. 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 July 6 to be careful. Median April 27 – June 19 across 14 stations; April 16 is the optimistic end.
- First fall freeze
- Plan to August 30 to be careful. Median September 13 – October 19 across 14 stations; November 2 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 14 stations behind these numbers
All 14 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 116 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abiquiu Dam, NM | USC00290041 | April 29 | October 16 | 168 days |
| Alcalde, NM | USC00290245 | May 10 | October 4 | 145 days |
| Brazos Lodge, NM | USC00291180 | May 20 | October 4 | 135 days |
| Chama, NM | USC00291664 | June 14 | September 18 | 93 days |
| Dulce, NM | USC00292608 | June 9 | September 22 | 103 days |
| El Rito, NM | USC00292820 | May 15 | October 7 | 143 days |
| El Vado Dam, NM | USC00292837 | June 13 | September 18 | 94 days |
| Espanola, NM | USC00293031 | May 11 | October 6 | 149 days |
| Gascon, NM | USC00293488 | May 28 | September 26 | 119 days |
| Lindrith 1 Wsw, NM | USC00294960 | May 28 | September 27 | 121 days |
| Navajo Dam, NM | USC00296061 | April 27 | October 19 | 174 days |
| Tierra Amarilla 4 N, NM | USC00298845 | June 11 | September 20 | 98 days |
| Tres Piedras, NM | USC00299085 | May 31 | September 28 | 118 days |
| Wolf Canyon, NM | USC00299820 | June 19 | September 13 | 83 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
Rio Arriba County sits in New Mexico. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.
More of New Mexico
- McKinley County, NM 6a–7a
- Taos County, NM 5a, 5b, 6a, 7a
- Otero County, NM 7a–8b
- San Miguel County, NM 6a–7b
- Grant County, NM 7b–8a
- Lincoln County, NM 7a–7b
- Cibola County, NM 5b–7a
- Mora County, NM 6a–6b
- Lea County, NM 7b–8a
- Socorro County, NM 7a–7b
- Colfax County, NM 5b–6a
- Sierra County, NM 7a–8a
Counties with the same zones — 5b–7a
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 5b 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 5b, 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.