USDA hardiness zone
Zone 9b
Rolled up from the 2,100 ZIP codes in our data that are classified zone 9b, covering 3,185 nurseries and garden centers across 440 cities we track in this zone.
Average minimum winter temperature
25°F
Last spring frost range
Jan 19–Jun 10
First fall frost range
Sep 13–Dec 31
Average frost-free growing season
308 days
Average monthly temperature
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51.8° | 54.9° | 59.5° | 64.5° | 71.1° | 77.1° | 80.4° | 80.2° | 76.6° | 68.6° | 58.9° | 52.4° |
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, averaged across this zone's member ZIPs.
Crops by frost hardiness
What grows here, and when
This zone's own last-frost dates range across Jan 19–Jun 10. Hardy and semi-hardy crops can go in before that date; tender and very-tender crops need to wait until after it. See each crop's own guide for exact windows at a specific location in this zone.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Hardy (49)
- Apple (bare-root fruit tree)
- Apricot (bare-root fruit tree)
- Asparagus
- Bachelor's Button (Cornflower)
- Bare-root rose
- Blackberry
- Blueberry
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Calendula
- Catnip/Catmint
- Cherry (sweet/tart, bare-root fruit tree)
- Chives
- Collards
- Currant
- Deciduous shade tree (generic, e.g. maple/oak, bare-root or B&B)
- Elderberry
- Evergreen shrub (B&B/potted, e.g. arborvitae, boxwood)
- Flowering deciduous shrub (generic, e.g. lilac/forsythia)
- Garden Peas
- Garlic
- Gooseberry
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Larkspur
- Lavender
- Lettuce
- Mint
- Onion (bulb)
- Oregano
- Peach (bare-root fruit tree)
- Pear (bare-root fruit tree)
- Plum (bare-root fruit tree)
- Radish
- Raspberry
- Rhubarb
- Rutabaga
- Sage
- Snapdragon
- Snow Peas
- Spinach
- Strawberry
- Sweet Alyssum
- Sweet Pea
- Table/Bunch Grape
- Tarragon
- Thyme
- Turnip
Semi-hardy (16)
Tender (20)
Zone 9b means an average annual extreme minimum winter temperature of 25°F to 30°F on the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (USDA/ARS with the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University, 1991-2020 records). Every ZIP here carries its zone matched by centroid against the map, not by its polygon boundary, via phzmapi.org's ZIP-level derivation.
The growing season shown above runs long enough at some of this zone's own ZIPs that frost is closer to a rare event to plan around than a seasonal deadline to plant by; if your own ZIP's last frost lands in January and its first frost lands near year's end, treat both as coin-flip dates, not fixed markers.
We track nurseries across 8 states in zone 9b, from Alabama and Arizona to Texas, with Houston, TX carrying the most, followed by Apopka and Jacksonville, FL. Apopka is also this directory's own representative ZIP for the warm band on the monthly planting guides.
Cities we track in zone 9b
- Houston, TX (113)
- Apopka, FL (65)
- Jacksonville, FL (64)
- Tucson, AZ (59)
- Bakersfield, CA (58)
- Sacramento, CA (57)
- Fresno, CA (54)
- Las Vegas, NV (50)
- San Jose, CA (44)
- Visalia, CA (43)
- Plant City, FL (42)
- New Orleans, LA (41)
Nearby zones
All zones
USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map (zone boundaries, via the phzmapi.org ZIP-level derivation) and NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals (frost dates, growing season, monthly temperatures).