Saguache County, in Colorado, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
These conditions suit cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Saguache County lies within the San Luis Valley — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Saguache County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Saguache County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. 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 Saguache County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Saguache County — the short answer
Saguache County, Colorado: USDA zone 5b, about 135 days between hard freezes, across 2.0M acres.
- USDA zone
- 5b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 17
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Sep 29
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~135
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 2.0M acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 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
Zone 5b is Saguache County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Saguache County's 135-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Saguache County
Across a year, Saguache County accumulates about 978 growing degree days above 50°F, about 854 fewer than the middle Colorado county — ahead of 14 of Colorado’s 64 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Saguache County
Across Saguache County, the ground is predominantly Mollisols, where Goosepeak, Seitz, and Hooper are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 6.7–8.2, slightly alkaline. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group C soils.
Soil order
Mollisols
Drainage
Well drained
Hydric soils
8%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Saguache County
The USDA soil survey maps 69% of Saguache County as well drained — but another 25% drains differently: 8% poorly drained, 6% moderately well drained.
Goosepeak is the most extensive named soil at 6% of mapped acres, then Seitz (6%) and Hooper (4%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Saguache County
Each reading below is measured for Saguache County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Saguache County are well drained, in hydrologic group C — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Saguache County runs about pH 6.7–8.2, on the alkaline side.
Many vegetables cope, but acid-lovers like blueberries struggle, and iron and manganese lock up above about pH 7.5 — leaves yellow between the veins even in rich soil.
Elemental sulfur and generous organic matter lower pH slowly for the beds that need it; test first so you add only what the soil actually calls for.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredSaguache County runs about 135 days between hard freezes — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredSaguache County sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.
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 Saguache County is in
Saguache County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Southern Rockies (68%) and Arizona/New Mexico Plateau (32%). Which one your land falls in changes what grows wild there and how the ground behaves, and a county-wide answer cannot tell you which.
What Grows in Saguache County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Saguache County's own USDA zone 5b and its own 135-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Colorado profile.
Is it too late to plant in Saguache County?
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 Apr 19; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 17 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Sep 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. When the window is tight, the fall moves are quick ones — baby greens, radishes, and garlic set for next season.
Documented around Saguache County
- monarch butterfly95 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Saguache County
USGS estimates 38,680 lb of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s on Saguache County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor-s (38,556 lb) and Glyphosate (27,170 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Saguache County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Saguache County — 461 documented sites across 5 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 5 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Saguache County carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Saguache County
Closest first, across Saguache County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Unnamed Cu-Pb-Zn-Mo OccurrenceMining · 1.6 mi
- NA04400710BAANitrate · 4.6 mi
- NA04400712ABBNitrate · 5.9 mi
- CDOT SaguacheUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.1 mi
- SAGUACHE 9TH STREET ASBESTOS SITESuperfund · 6.3 mi
- Alta Convenience #3405Underground Storage Tanks · 6.3 mi
- Saguache StandardUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.3 mi
- Shays Eat N RunUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.3 mi
- NA04400807BDCNitrate · 6.4 mi
- Unnamed ProspectMining · 6.4 mi
- Saguache Town MarketUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.4 mi
- UnknownMining · 6.4 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Saguache County'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 Saguache County.
Total Sites
461
across Saguache County
Risk Level
High
Highest-severity
5 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Saguache County
Severity Distribution
across Saguache County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Saguache County, Mining runs higher than the national average — 324 sites across Saguache County. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.
Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.
Check your specific parcel in Saguache County
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 Saguache County average
Your land is one point inside Saguache County
Everything above resolves to Saguache County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 2.0M 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 county 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 county average.
Your Lot vs the Saguache County Average
Saguache County Average
- ●USDA Zones 5b, averaged across Saguache County
- ●One soil character for all of Saguache County
- ●Frost dates read at Saguache County's scale: May 17 to Sep 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Saguache County's 5b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Saguache County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Saguache County, Colorado — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Saguache County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Saguache County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Saguache County average
How we know this about Saguache County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Saguache County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Saguache County
When does frost risk typically end in Saguache County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Saguache County typically lands around May 17, 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 Jun 7.
How long is the growing season in Saguache County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Saguache County sees about 135 frost-free days — roughly May 17 through Sep 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 7 to Sep 15, about 100 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Saguache County?
The federal record around Saguache County runs heavier than most — 461 documented sites, mostly Mining entries (324), the nearest Mining record about 1.6 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 gardeners stretch the season in Saguache County?
With about 135 frost-free days between hard freezes, Saguache County rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 163 to 191 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 17 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Saguache County's scale — its 5b band and its 135-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Saguache County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Colorado's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Saguache County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Saguache County's own scale — its own ~135-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 461 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Saguache County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Saguache County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~135-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Saguache CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 461 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Mining record about 1.6 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Saguache County's boundary and the 2,027,880 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~135-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Saguache County spans, Southern Rockies the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Saguache County for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Saguache County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Colorado grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Colorado
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Saguache County — the ~135 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Saguache County's 2,027,880 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 461 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Saguache Countyread your own land →