What Grows in Citrus, California

USDA Zones 10a · 561 acres

Citrus, California, sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

Crops well matched to these conditions include artichoke, meyer lemon, california poppy, and cabbage — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Citrus, no two yards are alike.

A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Citrus lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.

We read public map data around Citrus — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

No card required · your full report in seconds

Citrus — the short answer

Citrus, California: USDA zone 10a, no 28°F killing freeze on record — the season is year-round, across 561 acres of town.

USDA zone
10a
USDA PHZM 2023
Killing freeze
None on record
NOAA RCC ACIS 1991–2020, this town’s own record
Town area
561 acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. The year-round finding is measured — a 30-year record with no 28°F killing freeze in it — never inferred from missing dates.

Hardiness Zone Range

10a10a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 10a is Citrus's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Citrus's no killing freeze on record, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Citrus

Each reading below is measured for Citrus itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Winter hardiness

Measured

Citrus sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a.

The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.

Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.

USDA PHZM 2023

The kind of country Citrus is in

Citrus sits in the Southern California/Northern Baja Coast — EPA Level III, inside the wider Mediterranean California. That is read at Citrus's own centroid rather than borrowed from Los Angeles County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Citrus

Every plant below cleared Citrus's own zone 10a. Each card opens that plant's California profile. How we score.

artichoke, photograph
Growing artichoke in CaliforniaZones 7–11Citrus's 10a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Meyer lemon, photograph
California meyer lemon guideZones 9–11Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in CaliforniaZones 6–10Citrus's 10a — 4 zones of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage: California growing notesZones 2–11Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Growing avocado in CaliforniaZones 9–11Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
California rosemary guideZones 8–10Citrus's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens in CaliforniaZones 2–11Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
banana, photograph
Banana: California growing notesZones 9–11Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
ashwagandha, photograph
Growing ashwagandha in CaliforniaZones 8–12Citrus's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
California kale guideZones 2–11Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
citrus, photograph
Citrus in CaliforniaZones 9–11Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Potato: California growing notesZones 2–11Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Growing garlic in CaliforniaZones 2–10Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
cassava, photograph
California cassava guideZones 8–12Citrus's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
eggplant, photograph
Eggplant in CaliforniaZones 2–12Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: California growing notesZones 3–10Citrus's 10a — 7 zones of cold margin.
salvia, photograph
Growing salvia in CaliforniaZones 2–11Citrus's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
Apache plume, photograph
California apache plume guideZones 5–11Citrus's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
bougainvillea, photograph
Bougainvillea in CaliforniaZones 9–11Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
lantana, photograph
Lantana: California growing notesZones 10–11Citrus's 10a is its exact cold limit.
scabiosa, photograph
Growing scabiosa in CaliforniaZones 4–11Citrus's 10a — 6 zones of cold margin.
holly, photograph
California holly guideZones 5–11Citrus's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
jasmine, photograph
Jasmine in CaliforniaZones 9–11Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: California growing notesZones 5–11Citrus's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
moringa, photograph
Growing moringa in CaliforniaZones 9–12Citrus's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
Vuda blue grass, photograph
California vuda blue grass guideZones 8–13Citrus's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in CaliforniaZones 5–11Citrus's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
palo verde, photograph
Palo verde: California growing notesZones 8–11Citrus's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
cogon grass, photograph
Growing cogon grass in CaliforniaZones 8–13Citrus's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
liriope, photograph
California liriope guideZones 5–11Citrus's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.

What's on the federal record near Citrus

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Citrus. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. AZUSA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTBrownfields · 450 ft
  2. AZUSA AUTO REPAIRBrownfields · 450 ft
  3. AZUSA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTUnderground Storage Tanks · 450 ft
  4. CITRUS GASUnderground Storage Tanks · 600 ft
  5. ATEF HANA DENTAL INCBrownfields · 650 ft
  6. ALBERT SUAREZBrownfields · 750 ft
  7. WESTERN DISPOSAL CO#Brownfields · 1300 ft
  8. EASTLAND CHEVRONBrownfields · 1300 ft
  9. CVS PHARMACY #5945Brownfields · 2400 ft
  10. ALPINE BMWBrownfields · 2400 ft
  11. MCMORROW, FLORBrownfields · 2400 ft
  12. M M B Z AUTO REPAIRBrownfields · 2400 ft

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Citrus's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.

Environmental Intelligence

The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Citrus.

Total Sites

6,792

within ~10 miles of Citrus

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

41 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Citrus

High21Moderate695Low6,076

Highest-Severity Sites

Azusa Light and Water
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Cal-Am Water Company - Duarte
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Arcadia
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Covina-City, Water Dept.
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Gswc-San Dimas
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Citrus, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 6,065 sites within ~10 miles of Citrus. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties where legacy soil contamination (heavy metals, PAHs, petroleum compounds) may persist.

Check EPA brownfield remediation status — many sites have completed cleanup with institutional controls.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Citrus

Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Citrus average

Your land is one point inside Citrus

Everything above resolves to Citrus as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 561 acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at town scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.

Your Lot vs the Citrus Average

Citrus Average

  • USDA Zones 10a, averaged across Citrus
  • One soil character for all of Citrus
  • State-average frost dates

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Citrus's 10a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Citrus

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Citrus, California — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Citrus averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free daysYour sun & shade

We read public map data around Citrus — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Citrus average

How we know this about Citrus

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals, with the labelled statewide window where none resolves; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.

Common questions about Citrus

Is it too late to plant in Citrus?

No — Citrus has no 28°F killing freeze in the 30-year station record, so the growing season is year-round and there is no last-frost date to wait for. Planting is paced by rainfall, heat and daylength instead of by frost: start heat-lovers any month, and time cool-season crops (lettuce, brassicas, peas) for the cooler, wetter half of the year or for higher ground. Succession sowing every few weeks works all year, so the limit is what you can keep watered and harvested, not the calendar.

When does frost risk typically end in Citrus?

It doesn't — Citrus records no 28°F killing freeze at all across the 1991–2020 station record, so there is no spring frost date to plant after. Cold still matters with elevation: the higher you garden, the cooler the nights, and a few tropical crops sulk below about 60°F even where they never freeze.

How long is the growing season in Citrus?

Year-round — the 1991–2020 station record for Citrus contains no 28°F killing freeze, so there is no season to measure between freezes. What paces planting instead is heat, rainfall and daylength: the hottest, wettest stretch is the hard part for cool-season crops, not winter. Elevation is the one real exception — the higher you garden, the colder the nights get.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Citrus?

The federal record around Citrus runs heavier than most — 6,792 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (6,065), the nearest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.

Everything above is measured at Citrus's scale — its 10a band and its no killing freeze on record. Your yard writes its own version of Citrus's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.

What this page reads at Citrus’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Citrus's own scale — the 561 acres it covers and 6,792 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Citrus's own USDA hardiness band, zones 10aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • No 28°F killing freeze in the 30-year station record covering Citrus — a year-round growing seasonNOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020
  • 6,792 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Citrus, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Citrus's boundary and the 561 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear Citrus's hardiness zoneGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Citrus's own centroid, the Southern California/Northern Baja CoastUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Citrus's 561 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Los Angeles County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Los Angeles County
  • The growing challenges every California grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom California
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Los Angeles County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Citrus's 561 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Citrus you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 561 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Citrus-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address