What Grows in Geyserville, California

USDA Zones 9a · 3K acres

Geyserville, California, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.

On paper, artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

Geyserville — the short answer

Geyserville, California: USDA zone 9a, about 323 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of town.

USDA zone
9a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Jan 23
Sonoma County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 12
Sonoma County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~323
Sonoma County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
3K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Sonoma County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

9a9a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 9a is Geyserville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Geyserville's 323-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Geyserville

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

Season length

From county records

Geyserville runs about 323 days between hard freezes (read from Sonoma County, the closest normal to Geyserville) — close to year-round growing.

Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.

Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Geyserville sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a.

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 Geyserville is in

Geyserville sits in the Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Mediterranean California. That is read at Geyserville's own centroid rather than borrowed from Sonoma County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Geyserville

Every plant below cleared Geyserville's own zone 9a and its 323-day season. Each card opens that plant's California profile. How we score.

artichoke, photograph
Growing artichoke in CaliforniaZones 7–11Geyserville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
California fig guideZones 6–10Geyserville's 9a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in CaliforniaZones 6–10Geyserville's 9a — 3 zones of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage: California growing notesZones 2–11Geyserville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Growing meyer lemon in CaliforniaZones 9–11Geyserville's 9a is its exact cold limit.
rosemary, photograph
California rosemary guideZones 8–10Geyserville's 9a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens in CaliforniaZones 2–11Geyserville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Avocado: California growing notesZones 9–11Geyserville's 9a is its exact cold limit.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in CaliforniaGeyserville's 323 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
California kale guideZones 2–11Geyserville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil in CaliforniaZones 2–11Geyserville's 323 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Okra: California growing notesZones 2–12Geyserville's 323 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Growing potato in CaliforniaZones 2–11Geyserville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
California pumpkin guideZones 3–11Geyserville's 323 days clear the ~40 it needs.
sweet corn, photograph
Sweet corn in CaliforniaZones 2–11Geyserville's 323 days clear the ~65 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: California growing notesZones 3–10Geyserville's 9a — 6 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in CaliforniaZones 2–11Geyserville's 323 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
California apache plume guideZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in CaliforniaZones 7–11Geyserville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
barrel cactus, photograph
Barrel cactus: California growing notesZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in CaliforniaGeyserville's 323 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
California holly guideZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in CaliforniaZones 7–10Geyserville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: California growing notesZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in CaliforniaZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
crab grass, photograph
California crab grass guideZones 7–11Geyserville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in CaliforniaZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: California growing notesZones 4–10Geyserville's 9a — 5 zones of cold margin.
feather top Rhodes grass, photograph
Growing feather top rhodes grass in CaliforniaZones 7–11Geyserville's 323 days clear the ~90 it needs.
liriope, photograph
California liriope guideZones 5–11Geyserville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Geyserville?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 1; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Jan 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 12 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the calendar nearly circles: cool-season crops take the winter shift, and the next window is always close.

What's on the federal record near Geyserville

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

  1. 010N009W18P001MNitrate · 2400 ft
  2. CALIFORNIA AMERICAN WATER - GEYSERVILLE WELL 1Brownfields · 0.6 mi
  3. JIMS AUTOMOTIVE SPECIALISTSBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  4. TED ELLIOTT PAINTINGBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  5. GEYSERVILLE USDBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  6. ZUMWALT FORDBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  7. PG&E GEYSERVILLE SERVICE CENTERBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  8. AG UNLIMITEDBrownfields · 0.9 mi
  9. REDWOOD EMPIRE VINEYARD MGTBrownfields · 0.9 mi
  10. GROWERS SUPPLY & IRRIGATION INCBrownfields · 1.0 mi
  11. BLACK'S TRACTORBrownfields · 1.0 mi
  12. VYBORNY VINEYARD MANAGEMENT INCBrownfields · 1.2 mi

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

Measured from Geyserville'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 Geyserville.

Total Sites

392

within ~10 miles of Geyserville

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

3 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Geyserville

High56Moderate89Low247

Highest-Severity Sites

Anne Belcher
Mining Sites · Unknown
Black Bear
Mining Sites · Past Producer
Black Oak
Mining Sites · Past Producer
Black Oak # 1
Mining Sites · Unknown
Buckeye
Mining Sites · Past Producer

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Geyserville, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Geyserville — Mining (88 sites) and Brownfields (246 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.

Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.

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

Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.

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

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Geyserville

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 Geyserville average

Your land is one point inside Geyserville

Everything above resolves to Geyserville as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Sonoma County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid. 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 Geyserville Average

Geyserville Average

  • USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Geyserville
  • One soil character for all of Geyserville
  • Frost dates read at Geyserville's scale: Jan 23 to Dec 12

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Geyserville's 9a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Geyserville

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Geyserville averages 323Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Geyserville

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 Sonoma County’s record, because none resolves here; 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 Geyserville

When does frost risk typically end in Geyserville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Geyserville typically lands around Jan 23, 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 Feb 13.

When is the first frost in Geyserville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Geyserville typically arrives around Dec 12, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 28, so the watching starts about Nov 12 — about 323 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Geyserville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Geyserville sees about 323 frost-free days — roughly Jan 23 through Dec 12, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 13 to Nov 28, about 288 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Geyserville?

The federal record around Geyserville runs heavier than most — 392 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (246), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.5 miles 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.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Geyserville?

From about Nov 12 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 Dec 12 (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 Dec 12. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Geyserville's scale — its 9a band and its 323-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Geyserville'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 Geyserville’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Geyserville's own scale — the 2,889 acres it covers and 392 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Geyserville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 392 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Geyserville, the closest Nitrate record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Geyserville's boundary and the 2,889 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~323-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Geyserville's own centroid, the Central California Foothills and Coastal MountainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Geyserville has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Sonoma County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Geyserville's 2,889 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Sonoma County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Sonoma 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 Sonoma County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Geyserville's 2,889 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Geyserville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,889 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.5 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 Geyserville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address