What Grows in East San Gabriel, California

USDA Zones 10a · 1K acres

East San Gabriel, California, sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

Among the crops suited to this profile: artichoke, meyer lemon, california poppy, and cabbage. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.

Score your parcel · free

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

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East San Gabriel — the short answer

East San Gabriel, California: USDA zone 10a, no 28°F killing freeze on record — the season is year-round, across 1K 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
1K 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 East San Gabriel's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against East San Gabriel'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 East San Gabriel

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

Winter hardiness

Measured

East San Gabriel 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 East San Gabriel is in

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

What that means for soil

What Grows in East San Gabriel

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

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

What's on the federal record near East San Gabriel

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

  1. EMPEROR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL/TEMPLE CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTBrownfields · 500 ft
  2. ENSIGN JIM TRUCKINGBrownfields · 600 ft
  3. ORLANDO NIEVESBrownfields · 750 ft
  4. WONG, FREDBrownfields · 1000 ft
  5. CITY OF SANTA MONICABrownfields · 1200 ft
  6. STUEDLE, SUZANNEBrownfields · 1500 ft
  7. 001S011W06D002SNitrate · 1600 ft
  8. COPLEY, JOHNBrownfields · 1800 ft
  9. WALGREENS #6125Brownfields · 2000 ft
  10. TESORO GASOLINE DIGAS TEMPLE CITYBrownfields · 2000 ft
  11. AROUND TOWN CLEANERSBrownfields · 2200 ft
  12. ALLEN WANGBrownfields · 2400 ft

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

Measured from East San Gabriel'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 East San Gabriel.

Total Sites

9,750

within ~10 miles of East San Gabriel

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

57 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of East San Gabriel

High27Moderate1,254Low8,469

Highest-Severity Sites

Cal-Am Water Company - Duarte
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Cal/Am Water Company - San Marino
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
California Water Service CO. - Ela
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Alhambra
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Arcadia
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around East San Gabriel, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 8,461 sites within ~10 miles of East San Gabriel. 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 East San Gabriel

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 East San Gabriel average

Your land is one point inside East San Gabriel

Everything above resolves to East San Gabriel as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 1K 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 East San Gabriel Average

East San Gabriel Average

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

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in East San Gabriel

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

Three things about your lot that East San Gabriel averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free daysYour sun & shade

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

25+ data sources read at your address, not the East San Gabriel average

How we know this about East San Gabriel

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 East San Gabriel

Is it too late to plant in East San Gabriel?

No — East San Gabriel 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 East San Gabriel?

It doesn't — East San Gabriel 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 East San Gabriel?

Year-round — the 1991–2020 station record for East San Gabriel 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 East San Gabriel?

The federal record around East San Gabriel runs heavier than most — 9,750 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (8,461), 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 East San Gabriel's scale — its 10a band and its no killing freeze on record. Your yard writes its own version of East San Gabriel'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 East San Gabriel’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at East San Gabriel's own scale — the 1,393 acres it covers and 9,750 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • East San Gabriel's own USDA hardiness band, zones 10aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • No 28°F killing freeze in the 30-year station record covering East San Gabriel — a year-round growing seasonNOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020
  • 9,750 documented contamination sites on the federal record near East San Gabriel, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • East San Gabriel's boundary and the 1,393 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear East San Gabriel's hardiness zoneGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at East San Gabriel'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 East San Gabriel's 1,393 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 East San Gabriel's 1,393 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of East San Gabriel you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,393 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 East San Gabriel-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address