Arizona
Planting zones in La Paz County, Arizona
This county spans USDA zones 9a to 9b, so there is no single zone for La Paz County and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 63% of its ZIP codes are zone 9a; the rest are not.
Your ZIP code
Get the exact answer for your address
Everything above describes La Paz County, Arizona 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 La Paz County now
6 of 32 crops that every one of the 6 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.
- 🌱 Radishes 28d
- 🥬 Arugula 35d
- 🥬 Baby Salad Greens 35d
- 🥬 Spinach 40d
- 🥬 Mustard Greens 40d
- 🥔 Turnips 50d
Counted against a first fall freeze of November 19 – December 19 across 6 of those stations, NOAA 1991–2020 normals.
A further 15 crops depend on where in La Paz County you are — its stations disagree about them. The ZIP lookup above settles it for one address.
Low desert: plant in autumn and late winter
Main planting seasons are Sep–Nov and Jan–Mar. Here the year runs the other way round from a northern garden: summer, not winter, is the season most vegetables cannot get through, so the spring calendar further down this page is only half the year.
Why this page says so: 5 of the 6 NOAA stations serving this county average a summer high of at least 100 °F, take no more than 12 inches of rain a year, and see their last spring freeze by the end of February or not at all. Those figures are NOAA 1991–2020 normals. The two seasons are general low-desert guidance rather than a NOAA figure — your county extension office publishes the exact sowing dates, and the ZIP lookup above names the station nearest you.
All 6 stations agreeAt least one station
Every one of the 6 NOAA stations serving this county counts March 17 – November 19 as growing season (247 days). Widening to any single station gives January 4 – December 19 (349 days).
That is a 102-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
La Paz 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 63% in zone 9a and wrong for the other 37%. Here is the actual split.
| Zone | ZIP codes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9a | 5 | 63% | |
| 9b | 3 | 38% |
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 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 243–347 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 99.2–108 °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 0.5–1.9" 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 8% 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 107 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.
Every ZIP code in La Paz 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85325 | 9a | Bouse, AZ | 14.4 km |
| 85328 | 9b | Blythe, CA | 40.1 km |
| 85334 | 9b | Ehrenberg 2 E, AZ | 10.2 km |
| 85344 | 9b | Bouse, AZ | 21.8 km |
| 85346 | 9a | Quartzsite, AZ | 8.8 km |
| 85348 | 9a | Bouse, AZ | 42.9 km |
| 85357 | 9a | Aguila, AZ | 25.7 km |
| 85371 | 9a | Parker, AZ | 22.8 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 La Paz 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 | November 9 – January 20 | 8 wk before |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Start indoors | November 9 – January 20 | 8 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🫛 Peas | Direct sow | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Spinach | Direct sow | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Start indoors | November 23 – February 3 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Start indoors | November 30 – February 10 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Start indoors | November 30 – February 10 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Start indoors | November 30 – February 10 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Arugula | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🥕 Beets | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Mustard Greens | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🌶️ Okra | Start indoors | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🌱 Radishes | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🥔 Turnips | Direct sow | December 7 – February 17 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Set out | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥕 Carrots | Direct sow | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Direct sow | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Set out | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Start indoors | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Set out | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Direct sow | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Set out | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Direct sow | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Set out | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Start indoors | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Start indoors | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Start indoors | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Start indoors | December 14 – February 24 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Direct sow | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Set out | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Set out | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Cilantro | Direct sow | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Set out | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Direct sow | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Set out | December 21 – March 3 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Dill | Direct sow | December 28 – March 10 | 1 wk before |
| 🫘 Bush Beans | Direct sow | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Set out | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Direct sow | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Set out | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Direct sow | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Set out | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🌽 Sweet Corn | Direct sow | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Set out | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Direct sow | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Set out | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Direct sow | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Set out | January 11 – March 24 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Direct sow | January 18 – March 31 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Direct sow | January 18 – March 31 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Set out | January 18 – March 31 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Set out | January 18 – March 31 | 2 wk after |
| 🫘 Southern Peas | Direct sow | January 18 – March 31 | 2 wk after |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Set out | January 18 – March 31 | 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 La Paz County
Zone 9a carries 46 of 74 perennial edibles; zone 9b carries 40. 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 6 stations behind these numbers
All 6 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 60 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguila, AZ | USC00020060 | March 17 | November 19 | 243 days |
| Blythe, CA | USC00040924 | January 25 | December 12 | 325 days |
| Bouse, AZ | USC00020949 | February 18 | November 28 | 284 days |
| Ehrenberg 2 E, AZ | USC00022790 | January 4 | December 19 | 347 days |
| Parker, AZ | USC00026250 | January 12 | December 19 | 338 days |
| Quartzsite, AZ | USC00026865 | January 28 | December 6 | 315 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
La Paz County sits in Arizona. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.
More of Arizona
- Santa Cruz County, AZ 8a–8b
- Apache County, AZ 6a–7a
- Navajo County, AZ 6b–7b
- Gila County, AZ 7a, 8a, 8b, 9a
- Graham County, AZ 8b–9a
Counties with the same zones — 9a–9b
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 107 °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.