What Grows in Grover, Colorado

USDA Zones 5a · 381 acres

Grover, Colorado, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.

Among the crops suited to this profile: cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Grover — the short answer

Grover, Colorado: USDA zone 5a, about 162 days between hard freezes, across 381 acres of town.

USDA zone
5a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
May 2
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 11
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~162
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
381 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

5a5a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 5a is Grover's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Grover's 162-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Grover

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

Season length

Measured

Grover runs about 162 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.

There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.

Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Grover sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a.

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 Grover is in

Grover sits in the High Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Grover's own centroid rather than borrowed from Weld County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Grover

Every plant below cleared Grover's own zone 5a and its 162-day season. Each card opens that plant's Colorado profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in ColoradoZones 2–11Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Colorado cranberry guideZones 2–7Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in ColoradoZones 5–8Grover's 5a is its exact cold limit.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Colorado growing notesZones 2–11Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in ColoradoZones 4–9Grover's 5a — 1 zone of cold margin.
French tarragon, photograph
Colorado french tarragon guideZones 3–7Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in ColoradoZones 2–10Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Colorado growing notesZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
St. Johns wort, photograph
Growing st. johns wort in ColoradoZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Colorado kale guideZones 2–11Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Blackberry in ColoradoZones 5–8Grover's 5a is its exact cold limit.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Colorado growing notesZones 2–11Grover's 162 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in ColoradoZones 2–12Grover's 162 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Colorado potato guideZones 2–11Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in ColoradoZones 3–11Grover's 162 days clear the ~40 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Colorado growing notesZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in ColoradoZones 2–11Grover's 162 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Colorado azalea guideZones 4–8Grover's 5a — 1 zone of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in ColoradoZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Colorado growing notesZones 3–10Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in ColoradoGrover's 162 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Colorado lilac guideZones 4–10Grover's 5a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American bittersweet, photograph
American bittersweet in ColoradoZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Canada anemone, photograph
Canada anemone: Colorado growing notesZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in ColoradoZones 3–9Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Colorado alfalfa guideZones 2–10Grover's 162 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in ColoradoZones 2–7Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Blue spruce: Colorado growing notesZones 2–8Grover's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
annual ryegrass, photograph
Growing annual ryegrass in ColoradoZones 3–10Grover's 162 days clear the ~90 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Colorado canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Grover's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Grover?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 4; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 2 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 11 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. The tail of the season still works: sixty-day crops into late summer, quick greens after, garlic last of all.

What's on the federal record near Grover

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

  1. J & F ConocoUnderground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
  2. FE Warren Air Force BaseUnderground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
  3. FE Warren Missile FacilityUnderground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
  4. Pawnee School Dist RE-12Underground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
  5. PAWNEE SCHOOLBrownfields · 1800 ft
  6. SB01006202BAB2 USGS 405205104172001Nitrate · 3.3 mi
  7. SB01106235BCA USGS 405242104173001Nitrate · 3.5 mi
  8. SB01206234ABBNitrate · 6.6 mi
  9. 12-061-19bbb01Nitrate · 9.0 mi

Measured from Grover'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 Grover.

Total Sites

13

within ~10 miles of Grover

Risk Level

Low

Highest-severity

1 brownfield site

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Grover

High0Moderate8Low5

Highest-Severity Sites

12-061-19bbb01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
12-061-19bbb01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
Sb01006202bab2 Usgs 405205104172001
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
Sb01006202bab2 Usgs 405205104172001
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
Sb01106235bca Usgs 405242104173001
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

Know Before You Grow

  • On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
  • Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
  • Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
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Check your specific parcel in Grover

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 Grover average

Your land is one point inside Grover

Everything above resolves to Grover as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 381 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 Grover Average

Grover Average

  • USDA Zones 5a, averaged across Grover
  • One soil character for all of Grover
  • Frost dates read at Grover's scale: May 2 to Oct 11

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Grover's 5a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Grover

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Grover averages 162Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Grover

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 Grover’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 Grover

When does frost risk typically end in Grover?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Grover typically lands around May 2, 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 May 23.

When is the first frost in Grover?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Grover typically arrives around Oct 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 27, so the watching starts about Sep 11 — about 162 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Grover?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Grover sees about 162 frost-free days — roughly May 2 through Oct 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 23 to Sep 27, about 127 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Grover?

The federal record around Grover is light — 13 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Nitrate entries (8), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Grover?

From about Sep 11 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 Oct 11 (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 Oct 11. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Grover's scale — its 5a band and its 162-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Grover'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 Grover’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Grover's own scale — its own ~162-day season between 28°F freezes, the 381 acres it covers and 13 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Grover's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Grover's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 2 and Oct 11 and the ~162-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 13 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Grover, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Grover's boundary and the 381 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5a and a ~162-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Grover's own centroid, the High PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Grover's 381 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Weld County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Weld County
  • The growing challenges every Colorado grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Colorado
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Weld County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Grover's 381 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Grover you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 381 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Grover-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address