Place guide
Planting zones in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
This metro spans USDA zones 7a to 9a, so there is no single zone for Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 61% of its ZIP codes are zone 8b; the rest are not.
Your ZIP code
Get the exact answer for your address
Everything above describes Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 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.
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA does not have one planting answer
Its own weather stations disagree about 24 of the 32 crops in this table right now, so any single list would be wrong for part of the metro area. That is not a gap in the data — it is what the data says.
- Shortest season
- 134 days
GOVERNMENT CAMP, OR US (USC00353402) - Longest season
- 303 days
NATURE PARK-BEAVERTON, OR US (USC00355945)
169 days of growing season separate those two stations, and both serve ZIP codes in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA. 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 35 stations agreeAt least one station
Every one of the 35 NOAA stations serving this metro area counts May 27 – October 1 as growing season (127 days). Widening to any single station gives February 11 – December 5 (297 days).
That is a 170-day difference inside one metro area — 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
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA covers 5 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 61% in zone 8b and wrong for the other 39%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8b | 76 | 61% | |
| 9a | 37 | 30% | |
| 8a | 8 | 6% | |
| 7b | 2 | 2% | |
| 7a | 1 | 1% |
Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.
Your freeze dates
Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 35 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.
The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.
Your growing season
NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 35 stations serving Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA it runs 134–303 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 66–81 °F , below the 90 °F point where cool-season crops reliably bolt. Summer rain over the same months runs 1.3–6.2" across those 31 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 22% 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 79 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.
When to start seeds in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 35 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bok Choy | Start indoors | January 7 – April 22 | 5 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Start indoors | January 7 – April 22 | 5 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Start indoors | January 7 – April 22 | 5 weeks before |
| Arugula | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Beets | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Collards | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Kale | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Mustard Greens | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Okra | Start indoors | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Peas | Direct sow | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Radishes | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Spinach | Direct sow | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Sweet Potato | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Tomatoes | Start indoors | January 14 – December 31 | 6 weeks before |
| Turnips | Direct sow | January 14 – April 29 | 4 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Start indoors | January 16 – December 31 | 8 weeks before |
| Peppers | Start indoors | January 16 – December 31 | 8 weeks before |
| Cabbage | Set out | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Carrots | Direct sow | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Direct sow | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Collards | Set out | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Cucumbers | Start indoors | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Green Onions | Set out | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Direct sow | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Kale | Set out | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Direct sow | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Kohlrabi | Set out | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Pumpkins | Start indoors | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Summer Squash | Start indoors | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Winter Squash | Start indoors | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Zucchini | Start indoors | January 21 – May 6 | 3 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Direct sow | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Bok Choy | Set out | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Broccoli | Set out | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Cilantro | Direct sow | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Leaf Lettuce | Set out | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Direct sow | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Swiss Chard | Set out | January 28 – May 13 | 2 weeks before |
| Dill | Direct sow | February 4 – May 20 | 1 week before |
| Bush Beans | Direct sow | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Set out | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Direct sow | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Pumpkins | Set out | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Direct sow | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Summer Squash | Set out | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Sweet Corn | Direct sow | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Tomatoes | Set out | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Direct sow | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Winter Squash | Set out | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Direct sow | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Zucchini | Set out | February 18 – June 3 | 1 week after |
| Cucumbers | Direct sow | February 25 – June 10 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Direct sow | February 25 – June 10 | 2 weeks after |
| Okra | Set out | February 25 – June 10 | 2 weeks after |
| Peppers | Set out | February 25 – June 10 | 2 weeks after |
| Southern Peas | Direct sow | February 25 – June 10 | 2 weeks after |
| Sweet Potato | Set out | February 25 – June 10 | 2 weeks after |
The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.
What survives the winter changes across Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 58 come through the winter in zone 7a and only 46 in zone 9a. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.
| Zone | ZIPs | Survive | Fail for being too warm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7a | 1 | 58 of 74 | 1 |
| 7b | 2 | 56 of 74 | 3 |
| 8a | 8 | 57 of 74 | 8 |
| 8b | 76 | 54 of 74 | 11 |
| 9a | 37 | 46 of 74 | 25 |
The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.
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 35 stations behind these numbers
All 35 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 136 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 metro area.
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.
Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Which station serves a given ZIP code, and how far away it is, varies across the metro — the table below gives it per ZIP code rather than this page averaging it.
| Station | NOAA ID | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora State AP, OR | USW00094281 | March 16 | November 14 | 242 days |
| Battle Ground, WA | USC00450482 | April 26 | October 16 | 174 days |
| Beaverton 2 Ssw, OR | USC00350595 | April 1 | November 6 | 222 days |
| Bonneville Dam, OR | USC00350897 | March 14 | November 27 | 257 days |
| Carson Fish Hatchery, WA | USC00451160 | May 2 | October 9 | 161 days |
| Cascade Locks, OR | USC00351407 | March 24 | November 20 | 242 days |
| Clatskanie, OR | USC00351643 | April 24 | October 24 | 184 days |
| Cougar 6 E, WA | USC00451760 | April 1 | November 18 | 227 days |
| Dallas 2 NE, OR | USC00352112 | April 16 | November 1 | 199 days |
| Estacada 2 SE, OR | USC00352693 | March 27 | November 14 | 230 days |
| Forest Grove, OR | USC00352997 | April 16 | October 26 | 192 days |
| Government Camp, OR | USC00353402 | May 27 | October 9 | 134 days |
| Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR | USC00353770 | March 27 | November 18 | 239 days |
| Hood Rvr Exp Stn, OR | USC00354003 | April 20 | October 13 | 177 days |
| Laurel Mtn, OR | USC00354776 | May 20 | October 23 | 157 days |
| Longview, WA | USC00454769 | April 8 | November 5 | 210 days |
| Mc Minnville, OR | USC00355384 | April 5 | November 7 | 216 days |
| Mcminnville Muni AP, OR | USW00094273 | April 15 | October 26 | 195 days |
| Molalla 7Ne, OR | USC00355681 | March 16 | November 19 | 247 days |
| N Willamette Exp Stn, OR | USC00356151 | March 18 | November 13 | 243 days |
| Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | USC00355945 | February 11 | December 5 | 303 days |
| Oregon City, OR | USC00356334 | March 18 | November 18 | 244 days |
| Portland INTL AP, OR | USW00024229 | March 13 | November 19 | 247 days |
| Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | USC00356749 | February 25 | December 1 | 280 days |
| Portland Troutdale AP, OR | USW00024242 | March 16 | November 20 | 250 days |
| Portland Wfo, OR | USC00356750 | March 13 | November 22 | 251 days |
| Portland-Hillsboro AP, OR | USW00094261 | April 16 | October 23 | 191 days |
| Rex 1 S, OR | USC00357127 | March 21 | November 22 | 241 days |
| Saint Helens Rfd, OR | USC00357466 | April 18 | November 7 | 201 days |
| Scappoose Ind AP, OR | USW00004201 | April 10 | November 2 | 209 days |
| Skamania Fish Hatchery, WA | USC00457696 | April 29 | October 22 | 177 days |
| Troutdale, OR | USC00358634 | March 26 | November 17 | 237 days |
| Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | USC00458773 | April 26 | October 18 | 177 days |
| Vancouver Pearson AP, WA | USW00094298 | March 29 | November 9 | 223 days |
| Vernonia #2, OR | USC00358884 | May 8 | October 1 | 144 days |
These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.
Every ZIP code in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Zones are published per ZIP code, not per metro area, so this is the exact answer rather than the metro area'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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97003 | 9a | Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | 2.1 km |
| 97004 | 8b | Molalla 7Ne, OR | 9.6 km |
| 97005 | 9a | Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | 2.9 km |
| 97006 | 8b | Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | 3.4 km |
| 97007 | 8b | Beaverton 2 Ssw, OR | 4.2 km |
| 97008 | 9a | Beaverton 2 Ssw, OR | 1.5 km |
| 97009 | 8b | Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR | 14.2 km |
| 97011 | 8a | Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR | 11.4 km |
| 97013 | 8b | Aurora State AP, OR | 8.4 km |
| 97015 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 8.8 km |
| 97016 | 8b | Clatskanie, OR | 7.6 km |
| 97017 | 8b | Molalla 7Ne, OR | 10.8 km |
| 97018 | 8b | Saint Helens Rfd, OR | 7.3 km |
| 97019 | 8b | Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR | 4.7 km |
| 97022 | 8b | Estacada 2 SE, OR | 8.6 km |
| 97023 | 8a | Estacada 2 SE, OR | 11.6 km |
| 97024 | 9a | Portland Troutdale AP, OR | 2.5 km |
| 97027 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 3.4 km |
| 97028 | 7a | Government Camp, OR | 5.3 km |
| 97030 | 9a | Portland Troutdale AP, OR | 5.0 km |
| 97034 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 8.7 km |
| 97035 | 9a | Beaverton 2 Ssw, OR | 8.7 km |
| 97038 | 8b | Molalla 7Ne, OR | 10.1 km |
| 97042 | 8b | Molalla 7Ne, OR | 4.1 km |
| 97045 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 6.6 km |
| 97048 | 8b | Longview, WA | 15.8 km |
| 97049 | 7b | Government Camp, OR | 12.8 km |
| 97051 | 8b | Saint Helens Rfd, OR | 5.8 km |
| 97053 | 8b | Saint Helens Rfd, OR | 2.5 km |
| 97054 | 8b | Saint Helens Rfd, OR | 13.2 km |
| 97055 | 8b | Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR | 9.7 km |
| 97056 | 8b | Scappoose Ind AP, OR | 8.9 km |
| 97060 | 9a | Troutdale, OR | 2.9 km |
| 97062 | 9a | N Willamette Exp Stn, OR | 9.3 km |
| 97064 | 8a | Vernonia #2, OR | 3.6 km |
| 97067 | 8a | Headworks Portland Wtr B, OR | 18.9 km |
| 97068 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 5.0 km |
| 97070 | 8b | N Willamette Exp Stn, OR | 3.3 km |
| 97078 | 8b | Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | 4.7 km |
| 97080 | 8b | Portland Troutdale AP, OR | 8.2 km |
| 97086 | 8b | Oregon City, OR | 11.6 km |
| 97089 | 8b | Portland Troutdale AP, OR | 14.1 km |
| 97101 | 8b | Mcminnville Muni AP, OR | 13.8 km |
| 97106 | 8b | Forest Grove, OR | 14.7 km |
| 97109 | 8b | Vernonia #2, OR | 14.2 km |
| 97111 | 8b | Mc Minnville, OR | 7.5 km |
| 97113 | 8b | Forest Grove, OR | 5.0 km |
| 97114 | 8b | Mcminnville Muni AP, OR | 4.6 km |
| 97115 | 8b | Rex 1 S, OR | 9.4 km |
| 97116 | 8b | Forest Grove, OR | 8.0 km |
| 97117 | 8b | Forest Grove, OR | 21.7 km |
| 97119 | 8b | Forest Grove, OR | 11.0 km |
| 97123 | 8b | Portland-Hillsboro AP, OR | 10.9 km |
| 97124 | 8b | Portland-Hillsboro AP, OR | 3.2 km |
| 97125 | 8b | Forest Grove, OR | 17.8 km |
| 97127 | 8b | Mc Minnville, OR | 4.8 km |
| 97128 | 8b | Mc Minnville, OR | 9.4 km |
| 97132 | 8b | Rex 1 S, OR | 6.2 km |
| 97133 | 8b | Scappoose Ind AP, OR | 15.0 km |
| 97140 | 8b | Rex 1 S, OR | 6.7 km |
| 97144 | 8b | Vernonia #2, OR | 16.1 km |
| 97148 | 8b | Mc Minnville, OR | 17.3 km |
| 97201 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 1.1 km |
| 97202 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 5.3 km |
| 97203 | 9a | Vancouver Pearson AP, WA | 6.6 km |
| 97204 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 1.2 km |
| 97205 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 1.0 km |
| 97206 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 8.2 km |
| 97208 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 1.4 km |
| 97209 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 1.5 km |
| 97210 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 4.8 km |
| 97211 | 9a | Portland INTL AP, OR | 2.9 km |
| 97212 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 4.6 km |
| 97213 | 8b | Portland Wfo, OR | 5.4 km |
| 97214 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 3.6 km |
| 97215 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 6.8 km |
| 97216 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 5.4 km |
| 97217 | 9a | Vancouver Pearson AP, WA | 4.0 km |
| 97218 | 9a | Portland INTL AP, OR | 1.6 km |
| 97219 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 7.1 km |
| 97220 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 2.0 km |
| 97221 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 4.0 km |
| 97222 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 9.4 km |
| 97223 | 9a | Beaverton 2 Ssw, OR | 3.8 km |
| 97224 | 9a | Beaverton 2 Ssw, OR | 5.8 km |
| 97225 | 8b | Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | 5.4 km |
| 97227 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 3.1 km |
| 97229 | 8b | Nature Park-Beaverton, OR | 6.1 km |
| 97230 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 2.6 km |
| 97231 | 8b | Scappoose Ind AP, OR | 9.9 km |
| 97232 | 9a | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 3.7 km |
| 97233 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 5.8 km |
| 97236 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 8.9 km |
| 97239 | 8b | Portland Kgw-Tv, OR | 3.1 km |
| 97266 | 9a | Portland Wfo, OR | 8.8 km |
| 97267 | 9a | Oregon City, OR | 5.9 km |
| 97347 | 8b | Laurel Mtn, OR | 18.5 km |
| 97378 | 8b | Dallas 2 NE, OR | 18.6 km |
| 97396 | 8b | Laurel Mtn, OR | 20.3 km |
| 98601 | 8b | Battle Ground, WA | 19.8 km |
| 98604 | 8b | Battle Ground, WA | 4.0 km |
| 98605 | 7b | Hood Rvr Exp Stn, OR | 15.3 km |
| 98606 | 8b | Battle Ground, WA | 7.4 km |
| 98607 | 8b | Troutdale, OR | 9.9 km |
| 98610 | 8a | Carson Fish Hatchery, WA | 10.9 km |
| 98616 | 8a | Cougar 6 E, WA | 2.2 km |
| 98629 | 8b | Battle Ground, WA | 13.7 km |
| 98639 | 9a | Bonneville Dam, OR | 1.2 km |
| 98642 | 8b | Scappoose Ind AP, OR | 12.8 km |
| 98648 | 8a | Cascade Locks, OR | 6.4 km |
| 98651 | 8a | Hood Rvr Exp Stn, OR | 8.0 km |
| 98660 | 8b | Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | 5.6 km |
| 98661 | 8b | Vancouver Pearson AP, WA | 3.3 km |
| 98662 | 8b | Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | 5.9 km |
| 98663 | 8b | Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | 2.7 km |
| 98664 | 8b | Portland INTL AP, OR | 3.7 km |
| 98665 | 8b | Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | 0.5 km |
| 98671 | 8b | Skamania Fish Hatchery, WA | 4.7 km |
| 98675 | 8b | Battle Ground, WA | 19.7 km |
| 98682 | 8b | Battle Ground, WA | 11.5 km |
| 98683 | 8b | Portland Wfo, OR | 5.2 km |
| 98684 | 8b | Portland INTL AP, OR | 8.0 km |
| 98685 | 8b | Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | 5.3 km |
| 98686 | 8b | Vancouver 4 Nne, WA | 5.5 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.
Your own ZIP
Work out your own dates
Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.
-
What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
- When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
- When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
- What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.
Other places to compare
Gardening in Oregon — zones 5b– 9b covers the whole state: how its 426 ZIP codes divide between 9 hardiness zones, and the freeze dates across every NOAA station in it.
Other metro areas in OR:
- Eugene-Springfield, OR Zones 7b, 8b, 9a
- Salem, OR Zones 7b, 8b
- Albany, OR Zones 7a, 7b, 8b
- Bend, OR Zones 6a–7a
- Medford, OR Zones 8a–8b
- Grants Pass, OR Zone 8b
- Corvallis, OR Zone 8b
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.
- 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
The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.
This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.