River Park, Florida, sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
Expect okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke to be strong candidates here; the deciding factors on any one parcel stay local — soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in River Park, 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 River Park 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 River Park — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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River Park — the short answer
River Park, Florida: USDA zone 10a, about 329 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 10a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Jan 19
- St. Lucie County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 14
- St. Lucie County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~329
- St. Lucie County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 2K 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 St. Lucie County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 10a is River Park's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against River Park's 329-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in River Park
Each reading below is measured for River Park itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsRiver Park runs about 329 days between hard freezes (read from St. Lucie County, the closest normal to River Park) — 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
MeasuredRiver Park 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 River Park is in
River Park sits in the Southern Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at River Park's own centroid rather than borrowed from St. Lucie County.
What Grows in River Park
Every plant below cleared River Park's own zone 10a and its 329-day season. Each card opens that plant's Florida profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in River Park?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. 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 19 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 14 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With almost year-round growing weather, timing is about heat and rainfall more than frost — some bench is always in play.
What's on the federal record near River Park
Closest first, within ~10 miles of River Park. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- LIBERTY SCRAP METAL INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- WAWA FOOD MARKET# 5220Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- WAWA FLORIDA LLC #5220Brownfields · 0.7 mi
- PUBLIX SUPER MARKET #855Brownfields · 0.7 mi
- 7 ELEVEN STORE #34862Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- WALGREENS STORE #5335Brownfields · 0.7 mi
- CITGO-PORT ST LUCIEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- CHEVRON #52052-MAJIK MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- GIANT #204Underground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- PORT SAINT LUCIE CITY-PRINEVILLE WTPUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
- SHELL-PRIMA VISTA #655Underground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- PORT SAINT LUCIE REHABILITATION & HEALTHCAREBrownfields · 1.2 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from River Park'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 River Park.
Total Sites
875
within ~10 miles of River Park
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
4 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of River Park
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of River Park
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •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.
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Check your specific parcel in River Park
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 River Park average
Your land is one point inside River Park
Everything above resolves to River Park as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from St. Lucie 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 River Park Average
River Park Average
- ●USDA Zones 10a, averaged across River Park
- ●One soil character for all of River Park
- ●Frost dates read at River Park's scale: Jan 19 to Dec 14
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not River Park's 10a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in River Park
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in River Park, Florida — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that River Park averages can't show:
We read public map data around River Park — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the River Park average
How we know this about River Park
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 St. Lucie 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 River Park
When does frost risk typically end in River Park?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in River Park typically lands around Jan 19, 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 9.
When is the first frost in River Park?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in River Park typically arrives around Dec 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 30, so the watching starts about Nov 14 — about 329 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in River Park?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, River Park sees about 329 frost-free days — roughly Jan 19 through Dec 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 9 to Nov 30, about 294 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in River Park?
The federal record around River Park is a meaningful one — 875 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (473), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 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 River Park?
From about Nov 14 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 14 (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 14. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at River Park's scale — its 10a band and its 329-day season. Your yard writes its own version of River Park'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 River Park’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at River Park's own scale — the 1,505 acres it covers and 875 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- River Park's own USDA hardiness band, zones 10aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 875 documented contamination sites on the federal record near River Park, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- River Park's boundary and the 1,505 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 10a and a ~329-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at River Park's own centroid, the Southern Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — River Park has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom St. Lucie County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so River Park's 1,505 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom St. Lucie County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom St. Lucie County
- The growing challenges every Florida grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Florida
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom St. Lucie County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among River Park's 1,505 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of River Park you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,505 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks 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 River Park-wide figureread your own land →