What Grows in Crestline, California

USDA Zones 8b · 9K acres

Crestline, California, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

The conditions favor cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Crestline, 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 Crestline 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 Crestline — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Crestline — the short answer

Crestline, California: USDA zone 8b, about 233 days between hard freezes, across 9K acres of town.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 4
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 23
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~233
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
9K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

8b8b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 8b is Crestline's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Crestline's 233-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Crestline

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

Season length

Measured

Crestline runs about 233 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Crestline sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.

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 Crestline is in

Crestline sits in the Southern California Mountains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Mediterranean California. That is read at Crestline's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: San Bernardino County is mostly Mojave Basin and Range. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Crestline

Every plant below cleared Crestline's own zone 8b and its 233-day season. Each card opens that plant's California profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in CaliforniaZones 2–11Crestline's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
California fig guideZones 6–10Crestline's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in CaliforniaZones 6–10Crestline's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: California growing notesZones 2–11Crestline's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in CaliforniaZones 7–10Crestline's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
California rosemary guideZones 8–10Crestline's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in CaliforniaZones 2–11Crestline's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate: California growing notesZones 7–10Crestline's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in CaliforniaZones 5–8Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
California lentil guideZones 2–11Crestline's 233 days clear the ~70 it needs.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in CaliforniaZones 5–10Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: California growing notesZones 2–12Crestline's 233 days clear the ~50 it needs.
grape, photograph
Growing grape in CaliforniaZones 6–9Crestline's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
California potato guideZones 2–11Crestline's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in CaliforniaZones 3–11Crestline's 233 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: California growing notesZones 3–10Crestline's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in CaliforniaZones 2–11Crestline's 233 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
California apache plume guideZones 5–11Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in CaliforniaZones 3–8Crestline's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: California growing notesZones 3–8Crestline's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in CaliforniaCrestline's 233 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
California holly guideZones 5–11Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in CaliforniaZones 7–11Crestline's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: California growing notesZones 6–8Crestline's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in CaliforniaZones 5–11Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
California pearl millet guideZones 5–11Crestline's 233 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in CaliforniaZones 5–11Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: California growing notesZones 4–10Crestline's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in CaliforniaZones 2–11Crestline's 233 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
California liriope guideZones 5–11Crestline's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Crestline?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 7; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 4 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 23 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.

What's on the federal record near Crestline

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

  1. 002N004W23D001SNitrate · 0.7 mi
  2. THOUSAND PINES CHRISTIAN CAMP & CONFERENCE CENTERBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  3. PILOT ROCK CONSERVATION CAMPBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  4. MARK MATEJKABrownfields · 0.8 mi
  5. RIM OF THE WORLD SCHOOL DISTRICTBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  6. MOUNTAIN MAGIC MOTORSBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  7. MAGIC MOUNTAIN MOTORSBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  8. CRESTLINE VILLAGE CWD - DIVISION 10PFAS · 0.8 mi
  9. CHEVRON STATION 9 1022Brownfields · 0.8 mi
  10. SNYDERS TIRE WORKSBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  11. Crestline Market, Inc.Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
  12. BURCH, WILLIAMBrownfields · 0.9 mi

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

Measured from Crestline'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 Crestline.

Total Sites

1,184

within ~10 miles of Crestline

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

10 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Crestline

High9Moderate389Low786

Highest-Severity Sites

Arrowhead Villas Mutual Service Company
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Crestline Village Cwd - Division 10
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
East Valley Water District
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Hesperia Wd
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Lake Arrowhead Csd
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Crestline, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 785 sites within ~10 miles of Crestline. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about 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 Crestline

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 Crestline average

Your land is one point inside Crestline

Everything above resolves to Crestline as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 9K 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 Crestline Average

Crestline Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Crestline
  • One soil character for all of Crestline
  • Frost dates read at Crestline's scale: Apr 4 to Nov 23

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Crestline's 8b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Crestline

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Crestline averages 233Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Crestline

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 at Crestline’s own record; 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 Crestline

When does frost risk typically end in Crestline?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Crestline typically lands around Apr 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Apr 25.

When is the first frost in Crestline?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Crestline typically arrives around Nov 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 9, so the watching starts about Oct 24 — about 233 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Crestline?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Crestline sees about 233 frost-free days — roughly Apr 4 through Nov 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 25 to Nov 9, about 198 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Crestline?

The federal record around Crestline is a meaningful one — 1,184 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (785), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.7 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Crestline?

From about Oct 24 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 23. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Crestline's scale — its 8b band and its 233-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Crestline'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 Crestline’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Crestline's own scale — its own ~233-day season between 28°F freezes, the 8,899 acres it covers and 1,184 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Crestline's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Crestline's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 4 and Nov 23 and the ~233-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 1,184 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Crestline, the closest Nitrate record about 0.7 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Crestline's boundary and the 8,899 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~233-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • Crestline sits in the Southern California Mountains — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Crestline's 8,899 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom San Bernardino County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Crestline's 8,899 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Crestline you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 8,899 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.7 miles 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 Crestline-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address