What Grows in Good Hope, California

USDA Zones 9b · 7K acres

Good Hope, California, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

The conditions favor okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

Good Hope — the short answer

Good Hope, California: USDA zone 9b, about 303 days between hard freezes, across 7K acres of town.

USDA zone
9b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 13
Riverside County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 13
Riverside County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~303
Riverside County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
7K 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 Riverside County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

9b9b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 9b is Good Hope's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Good Hope's 303-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Good Hope

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

Season length

From county records

Good Hope runs about 303 days between hard freezes (read from Riverside County, the closest normal to Good Hope) — 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

Good Hope sits in USDA hardiness zone 9b.

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 Good Hope is in

Good Hope sits in the Southern California/Northern Baja Coast — EPA Level III, inside the wider Mediterranean California. That is read at Good Hope's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Riverside County is mostly Sonoran Basin and Range. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Good Hope

Every plant below cleared Good Hope's own zone 9b and its 303-day season. Each card opens that plant's California profile. How we score.

okra, photograph
Growing okra in CaliforniaZones 2–12Good Hope's 303 days clear the ~50 it needs.
Meyer lemon, photograph
California meyer lemon guideZones 9–11Good Hope's 9b is its exact cold limit.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in CaliforniaZones 6–10Good Hope's 9b — 3 zones of cold margin.
artichoke, photograph
Artichoke: California growing notesZones 7–11Good Hope's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Growing avocado in CaliforniaZones 9–11Good Hope's 9b is its exact cold limit.
rosemary, photograph
California rosemary guideZones 8–10Good Hope's 9b — 1 zone of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage in CaliforniaZones 2–11Good Hope's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
banana, photograph
Banana: California growing notesZones 9–11Good Hope's 9b is its exact cold limit.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in CaliforniaGood Hope's 303 days clear the ~90 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
California collard greens guideZones 2–11Good Hope's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Kale in CaliforniaZones 2–11Good Hope's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: California growing notesZones 2–11Good Hope's 303 days clear the ~70 it needs.
potato, photograph
Growing potato in CaliforniaZones 2–11Good Hope's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
California pumpkin guideZones 3–11Good Hope's 303 days clear the ~40 it needs.
sweet corn, photograph
Sweet corn in CaliforniaZones 2–11Good Hope's 303 days clear the ~65 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: California growing notesZones 3–10Good Hope's 9b — 6 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in CaliforniaZones 2–11Good Hope's 303 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
California apache plume guideZones 5–11Good Hope's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in CaliforniaZones 7–11Good Hope's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
agave, photograph
Agave: California growing notesZones 8–11Good Hope's 9b — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in CaliforniaGood Hope's 303 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
California holly guideZones 5–11Good Hope's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in CaliforniaZones 7–10Good Hope's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: California growing notesZones 5–11Good Hope's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
palo verde, photograph
Growing palo verde in CaliforniaZones 8–11Good Hope's 9b — 1 zone of cold margin.
jungle rice, photograph
California jungle rice guideZones 7–13Good Hope's 303 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in CaliforniaZones 5–11Good Hope's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: California growing notesZones 5–11Good Hope's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
lablab, photograph
Growing lablab in CaliforniaZones 7–13Good Hope's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
liriope, photograph
California liriope guideZones 5–11Good Hope's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Good Hope?

Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 16; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 13 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 13 — 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 Good Hope

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

  1. GOOD HOPE/MEADOWBROOK THHWCF - RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF WASTE RESOURCESBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  2. RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPOR COMMISIONBrownfields · 1.0 mi
  3. GENERATION CYCLEBrownfields · 1.0 mi
  4. TRISTAN GENERAL ENGINEERING CORPBrownfields · 1.4 mi
  5. VILLAGE NURSERIESBrownfields · 1.7 mi
  6. RICHARD A DION SRBrownfields · 1.8 mi
  7. SHAWN STERLINGBrownfields · 1.9 mi
  8. HAROLD JONESBrownfields · 2.0 mi
  9. ERIK'S TRANSPORTATION INC.Brownfields · 2.0 mi
  10. ACCESS STORAGEBrownfields · 2.0 mi
  11. CIRCLE K STORE #340Brownfields · 2.0 mi
  12. T&W PC INCBrownfields · 2.1 mi

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

Measured from Good Hope'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 Good Hope.

Total Sites

1,397

within ~10 miles of Good Hope

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

3 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Good Hope

High2Moderate294Low1,101

Highest-Severity Sites

March Air Force Base
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Perris, City of
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
003s003w31b001s
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
003s003w31b001s
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
003s004w24c001s
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Good Hope, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 1,100 sites within ~10 miles of Good Hope. 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 Good Hope

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 Good Hope average

Your land is one point inside Good Hope

Everything above resolves to Good Hope as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 7K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Riverside 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 Good Hope Average

Good Hope Average

  • USDA Zones 9b, averaged across Good Hope
  • One soil character for all of Good Hope
  • Frost dates read at Good Hope's scale: Feb 13 to Dec 13

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Good Hope

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Good Hope averages 303Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Good Hope

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 Riverside 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 Good Hope

When does frost risk typically end in Good Hope?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Good Hope typically lands around Feb 13, 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 Mar 6.

When is the first frost in Good Hope?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Good Hope typically arrives around Dec 13, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 29, so the watching starts about Nov 13 — about 303 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Good Hope?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Good Hope sees about 303 frost-free days — roughly Feb 13 through Dec 13, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 6 to Nov 29, about 268 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Good Hope?

The federal record around Good Hope is a meaningful one — 1,397 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (1,100), the nearest Brownfields 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 Good Hope?

From about Nov 13 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 13 (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 13. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Good Hope's scale — its 9b band and its 303-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Good Hope'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 Good Hope’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Good Hope's own scale — the 7,184 acres it covers and 1,397 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Good Hope's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 1,397 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Good Hope, the closest Brownfields record about 0.7 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Good Hope's boundary and the 7,184 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9b and a ~303-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • Good Hope sits in the Southern California/Northern Baja Coast — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Good Hope has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Riverside County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Good Hope's 7,184 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Riverside County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Riverside 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 Riverside County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Good Hope's 7,184 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Good Hope you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 7,184 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields 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 Good Hope-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address