River Ridge, Florida, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
Growers here do well with okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.
Even in River Ridge, 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 Ridge 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 Ridge — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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River Ridge — the short answer
River Ridge, Florida: USDA zone 9b, about 325 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Jan 27
- Pasco County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 18
- Pasco County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~325
- Pasco 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 Pasco County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9b is River Ridge's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against River Ridge's 325-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in River Ridge
Each reading below is measured for River Ridge itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsRiver Ridge runs about 325 days between hard freezes (read from Pasco County, the closest normal to River Ridge) — 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 Ridge 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 River Ridge is in
River Ridge sits in the Southern Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at River Ridge's own centroid rather than borrowed from Pasco County.
What Grows in River Ridge
Every plant below cleared River Ridge's own zone 9b and its 325-day season. Each card opens that plant's Florida profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in River Ridge?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. 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 27 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 18 — 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 River Ridge
Closest first, within ~10 miles of River Ridge. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- RIVER RIDGE HIGH SCHOOLBrownfields · 750 ft
- PASCO CNTY SCHOOL BD-RIVER RIDGE HSUnderground Storage Tanks · 950 ft
- 7-ELEVEN FOOD STORE #32297Underground Storage Tanks · 2500 ft
- PUBLIX SUPER MARKET #810Brownfields · 0.5 mi
- PALL AEROPOWER CORPBrownfields · 1.1 mi
- PALL AEROPOWER CORPToxics Release Inventory · 1.1 mi
- QUICK KING FOOD STORESUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- STARKEY DEEP 10 NEAR ODESSA FLNitrate · 1.5 mi
- HIDDEN LAKE AIRPORT-FA40Underground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
- STARKEY DEEP WELL 710 NEAR NEW PORT RICHEY FLNitrate · 1.7 mi
- NEW PORT RICHEY-CITY-WATER TREATMENT PLANTUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- STARKEY SHALLOW 728 NEAR ODESSA FLNitrate · 2.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from River Ridge'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 Ridge.
Total Sites
741
within ~10 miles of River Ridge
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of River Ridge
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of River Ridge
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 Ridge
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 Ridge average
Your land is one point inside River Ridge
Everything above resolves to River Ridge as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Pasco 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 Ridge Average
River Ridge Average
- ●USDA Zones 9b, averaged across River Ridge
- ●One soil character for all of River Ridge
- ●Frost dates read at River Ridge's scale: Jan 27 to Dec 18
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not River Ridge's 9b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in River Ridge
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in River Ridge, Florida — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that River Ridge averages can't show:
We read public map data around River Ridge — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the River Ridge average
How we know this about River Ridge
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 Pasco 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 Ridge
When does frost risk typically end in River Ridge?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in River Ridge typically lands around Jan 27, 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 17.
When is the first frost in River Ridge?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in River Ridge typically arrives around Dec 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Dec 4, so the watching starts about Nov 18 — about 325 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in River Ridge?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, River Ridge sees about 325 frost-free days — roughly Jan 27 through Dec 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 17 to Dec 4, about 290 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in River Ridge?
The federal record around River Ridge is a meaningful one — 741 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (347), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.1 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 Ridge?
From about Nov 18 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 18 (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 18. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at River Ridge's scale — its 9b band and its 325-day season. Your yard writes its own version of River Ridge'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 Ridge’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at River Ridge's own scale — the 2,684 acres it covers and 741 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- River Ridge's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 741 documented contamination sites on the federal record near River Ridge, the closest Brownfields record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- River Ridge's boundary and the 2,684 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9b and a ~325-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at River Ridge's own centroid, the Southern Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — River Ridge has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Pasco County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so River Ridge's 2,684 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Pasco County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Pasco 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 Pasco County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among River Ridge's 2,684 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of River Ridge you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,684 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 0.1 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 Ridge-wide figureread your own land →
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