Sprague River, Oregon, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
These conditions suit pumpkin, blackberry, california poppy, and zucchini — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Sprague River, 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 Sprague River 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 Sprague River — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Sprague River — the short answer
Sprague River, Oregon: USDA zone 6a, about 89 days between hard freezes, across 300 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 6a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Jun 8
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Sep 5
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~89
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 300 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
Zone 6a is Sprague River's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Sprague River's 89-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Sprague River
Each reading below is measured for Sprague River itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredSprague River runs about 89 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
MeasuredSprague River sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a.
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 Sprague River is in
Sprague River sits in the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northwestern Forested Mountains. That is read at Sprague River's own centroid rather than borrowed from Klamath County.
What Grows in Sprague River
Every plant below cleared Sprague River's own zone 6a and its 89-day season. Each card opens that plant's Oregon profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Sprague River?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around May 11; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Jun 8 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Sep 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Short seasons reward decisiveness — quick-maturing varieties late, hardy greens under cover, and next year’s garlic in the ground before it closes.
What's on the federal record near Sprague River
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Sprague River. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- CHILOQUIN AGENCY LAKE RFPDUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
- DARLING'S OIL WELLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
- OR, CA & EASTERN RAILWAYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
Measured from Sprague River'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 Sprague River.
Total Sites
3
within ~10 miles of Sprague River
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
3 underground storage tanks
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Sprague River
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
Check your specific parcel in Sprague River
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 Sprague River average
Your land is one point inside Sprague River
Everything above resolves to Sprague River as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 300 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 Sprague River Average
Sprague River Average
- ●USDA Zones 6a, averaged across Sprague River
- ●One soil character for all of Sprague River
- ●Frost dates read at Sprague River's scale: Jun 8 to Sep 5
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Sprague River's 6a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Sprague River
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Sprague River, Oregon — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Sprague River averages can't show:
We read public map data around Sprague River — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Sprague River average
How we know this about Sprague River
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 Sprague River’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 Sprague River
When does frost risk typically end in Sprague River?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Sprague River typically lands around Jun 8, 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 29.
When is the first frost in Sprague River?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Sprague River typically arrives around Sep 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Aug 22, so the watching starts about Aug 6 — about 89 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Sprague River?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Sprague River sees about 89 frost-free days — roughly Jun 8 through Sep 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 29 to Aug 22, about 54 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Sprague River?
The federal record around Sprague River is light — 3 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (3), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles 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 gardeners stretch the season in Sprague River?
With about 89 frost-free days between hard freezes, Sprague River 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 117 to 145 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the Jun 8 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Sprague River's scale — its 6a band and its 89-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Sprague River'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 Sprague River’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at Sprague River's own scale — its own ~89-day season between 28°F freezes, the 300 acres it covers and 3 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Sprague River's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Sprague River's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Jun 8 and Sep 5 and the ~89-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 3 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Sprague River, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Sprague River's boundary and the 300 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6a and a ~89-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Sprague River's own centroid, the Eastern Cascades Slopes and FoothillsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Sprague River's 300 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Klamath County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Klamath County
- The growing challenges every Oregon grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Oregon
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Klamath County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Sprague River's 300 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Sprague River you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 300 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Sprague River-wide figureread your own land →
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