The Shasta Cascade spans USDA hardiness zones 7a-9a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
The southern Cascades and Trinity Alps interior — one far-northern region that spans a hot 9a valley around Redding (about 300 frost-free days) up to a cold mountain 7a in Lassen (as few as 134). Distinct from the Klamath Basin to the north: here your planting window is set by elevation, so a Redding garden and a Lassen garden run on very different calendars — pick crops by your own frost window, not the county name. Among the crops suited to this profile: tomato, fig, california poppy, and grape. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.
The Shasta Cascade spans California.
Your yard isn't all of the Shasta Cascade.
The Shasta Cascade spans USDA zones 7a-9a, but your parcel sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and low spots nudge it further. 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 Shasta Cascade — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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The Shasta Cascade — the short answer
The Shasta Cascade: USDA zones 7a-9a, 134–300 frost-free days depending where in it you stand, in California.
- USDA zones
- 7a-9a
- USDA PHZM 2023, aggregated over the footprint
- Shortest season here
- 134 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020 — Lassen County
- Counties
- 3
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Region type
- County cluster
- Growable Ground growing-region registry
Region boundary: Growable Ground growing-region registry — curated county clusters, EPA Level III ecoregions, and town clusters drawn finer than any county. The season figure is this region's own record, measured across its 3 member counties, not a state or national average.
Hardiness Zone Range
The Shasta Cascade is not one growing season
One answer for the Shasta Cascade averages 3 counties whose growing seasons are 166 days apart — from 134 frost-free days in Lassen County to 300 in Shasta County. That is the same region, measured the same way, in the same years. Which end of it your land sits nearer decides what finishes before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 3 counties runs 169–252 days, with a median of 204 days — a 166-day span end to end.
Measured across 3 member counties, each carrying its own 28°F normal. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. A member with no own record is absent from the range rather than counted as zero — nothing here is interpolated to the region. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where the line runs inside the Shasta Cascade
The middle half of the Shasta Cascade runs 169–252 frost-free days, and 2 of its 3 counties sit outside that — 1 on the short side, 1 on the long. A regional planting date describes the middle well and the ends poorly, which is worth knowing before you follow one.
Under 169 frost-free days
1 county
- Lassen County · 134 days
The end of the region that sets the planting calendar — start seed indoors here and the season stretches to meet the crop.
169–252 frost-free days
1 county
0 of 1 shown
The middle half of the region, and the part a single regional season describes well.
Over 252 frost-free days
1 county
- Shasta County · 300 days
Long enough for a second succession of a quick crop after the first comes out.
Each county is placed by its OWN 28°F frost-free normal (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020), the same figure its own guide page publishes. Elevation, slope and cold-air drainage move a site within its county as well — which is the part only your address resolves.
What Grows in the Shasta Cascade
All 1 of the plants below that publish a season requirement clear even Lassen County’s 134 frost-free days — so on season alone, this grid works at both ends of the region. The 166-day spread still decides how far past this list you can push, and how early you can start.
Plants matched to the Shasta Cascade's USDA zones 7a-9a, ordered by how much hardiness margin each has across the region — the ones with room to spare at both ends of this band lead. Each links to its full growing profile.
Native Plants of the Shasta Cascade
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in this region’s state, kept only where the published hardiness range meets the Shasta Cascade’s USDA zones 7a-9a — closest range match first. Presence is recorded by state, so a plant can be documented across the state and still be scarce in your corner of the region.
The ground across the Shasta Cascade
The USDA soil survey maps this ground county by county. These are those records weighted by land area across three member counties — this region’s own profile, not a state figure.
The ground is predominantly Alfisols, at 31% of mapped acres, followed by Mollisols (30%), Inceptisols (20%) and Andisols (7%). Eight soil orders appear somewhere inside the footprint, which is the honest reason a regional soil answer only goes so far. The most extensive named soils are Hopland, Cohasset, and Devada.
77% of those acres are well drained, and another 7% somewhat excessively drained, 6% moderately well drained. Topsoil pH runs 6.0–7.0 between the lowest and the highest county on record.
Soil order
Alfisols
Drainage
Well drained
Topsoil pH
6.0–7.0
Hydric soils
3%
Soil changes across a driveway, so which of these your own ground sits on is a parcel question rather than a regional one. Shasta County holds the most wetland ground here, at 3% — soil types explained.
USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access
What this means for growing in the Shasta Cascade
The soil survey reads this ground county by county, and the readings above are those records summed across the Shasta Cascade. Here is what they mean for a garden here — and the move an experienced grower makes about each one.
Drainage
From county records77% of the mapped acres across the Shasta Cascade are well drained — ground that drains quickly. That is area-weighted across all three of its mapped counties.
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
From county recordsTopsoil across the Shasta Cascade runs pH 6.0–7.0 — near neutral in all three of them.
This is the range most vegetables prefer — one correction you probably do not have to make, which is genuinely good news for a new bed.
Keep it there with compost rather than lime or sulfur, and only amend if your own soil test says otherwise.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across the Shasta Cascade — and how to grow with it.
Across the Shasta Cascade's 3 counties the federal record holds 2,540 documented sites, mostly Brownfields (1,314), Mining (684) and Nitrate (348). The heaviest single county is Shasta County, with 1,862.
That is a regional count, not a reading of any one lot — proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis. Open the map outlined to the Shasta Cascade to see which records sit where you actually grow.
Sources Checked
Summed across the 3 counties in the Shasta Cascade
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around the Shasta Cascade, two things run higher than the national average across the 3 counties in the Shasta Cascade — Mining (684 sites) and Brownfields (1,314 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties where legacy soil contamination (heavy metals, PAHs, petroleum compounds) may persist.
Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.
Check EPA brownfield remediation status — many sites have completed cleanup with institutional controls.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
Your land is one point inside the Shasta Cascade
Everything above resolves to the Shasta Cascade as a whole — a footprint whose own counties record seasons 166 days apart, and hardiness across zones 7a-9a. Your parcel sits at one point in that range, not in the middle of it. 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 region 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 regional average.
Your Lot vs the Shasta Cascade Average
Shasta Cascade Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a-9a, averaged across Shasta Cascade
- ●One soil character for all of Shasta Cascade
- ●State-average frost dates
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Shasta Cascade's 7a-9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in the Shasta Cascade
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in the Shasta Cascade — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, contamination, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Shasta Cascade averages can't show:
We read public map data around The Shasta Cascade — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Shasta Cascade average
How we know this about the Shasta Cascade
The boundary: a cluster of neighboring counties. Growing regions have no official boundary, so this footprint is our published one, and every figure on this page was measured over the counties inside it rather than borrowed from the state around it.
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, aggregated across the footprint; the growing season from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS 1991–2020 28°F normals, read at each member’s own record; boundaries from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination record from the federal sources named in that beat above; the soil from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, read at each member county’s own record and weighted to this footprint by land area. Where a member carries no record of its own, it is absent from the figure rather than filled in.
Common questions about the Shasta Cascade
What hardiness zone is the Shasta Cascade?
The Shasta Cascade spans USDA hardiness zones 7a-9a, aggregated from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 across the region's counties. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 data.
How long is the growing season in the Shasta Cascade?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, the Shasta Cascade's counties mostly run 169 to 252 frost-free days, median 204 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991–2020, over 3 member counties). That 83-day spread is the honest read — no single season describes 3 counties, and each county guide below carries its own.
When does frost risk end in the Shasta Cascade?
Across the Shasta Cascade, the middle half of member counties see their last 28°F hard freeze between Mar 21 and May 13 (median Apr 27), and their first fall freeze between Oct 29 and Nov 28. Those are hard freezes, not the last light frost: tender transplants wait for about May 18, and elevation decides which end of a 53-day spread you garden in.
What grows well in the Shasta Cascade?
The Shasta Cascade's conditions suit plants such as Tomato, Fig, California Poppy, Grape, Almond, Artichoke. What actually thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage — we score each plant against the real conditions at your address.
How is the Shasta Cascade defined?
The Shasta Cascade is defined here as a curated cluster of 3 neighboring counties that share a growing character. Growing regions have no official boundary, so this footprint is our published one — every county in it is named on this page.
Which states does the Shasta Cascade cover?
The Shasta Cascade spans California. Each state's full growing guide is linked on this page.
What other growing regions cover the same states?
Pacific Northwest, California Central Valley, Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, Sierra Nevada Foothills, and Sonoran Desert share at least one state with the Shasta Cascade. Growing regions overlap and interlock — a single address can sit inside more than one, which is why the precise read is always the parcel, not the region.
What this page reads at the Shasta Cascade’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at the Shasta Cascade's own scale — the zone 7a-9a band across its footprint, a median 204-day season across its 3 counties and 2,540 documented federal contamination records across its 3 counties, 1,862 of them in Shasta County alone; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- The USDA hardiness band 7a-9a aggregated across all 3 counties in the footprintUSDA PHZM 2023
- The boundary itself — the 3 counties this region is curated fromGrowable Ground subregion registry
- The growing character that makes this region distinct from the states it crossesGrowable Ground subregion registry
- The 28°F season across the footprint — the middle half of its 3 counties run 169 to 252 frost-free days, median 204NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020
- The federal contamination record over the whole footprint — 2,540 documented federal contamination records across its 3 counties, 1,862 of them in Shasta County aloneEPA, USGS and USDA federal site records
- The soil order mix across the footprint — 31% Alfisols, topsoil pH 6.0–7.0, area-weighted across its 3 mapped countiesUSDA NRCS SSURGO
Inherited from a wider read
- The candidate plant list — its state's curated sets, merged and filtered to zones 7a-9afrom California
What this page can’t tell you
- Which end of the 83-day range your ground sits at — 169 days at one extreme, 252 at the other, decided mostly by elevationfrost dates explained →
- Which of those soils your own ground sits on — the survey maps them county-wide, and they change across a drivewaysoil types explained →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on one specific lotwhy one lot differs from the next →
Explore the Shasta Cascade
State growing guides
Counties in this region
Other growing regions across California
The maritime Northwest west of the Cascade crest — mild, wet winters and dry summers behind berries, tree fruit, and lush cool-season gardens. (Union of the west-side ecoregions.)
A vast flat alluvial trough with hot dry summers and rich soils — one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth, from almonds and stone fruit to row crops.
The cooler, wetter northern half of the Central Valley — rice, walnuts, tomatoes, and orchard fruit on rich alluvial bottomland.
The hot southern half of California's Central Valley — deep soils and intense sun behind almonds, stone fruit, grapes, and row crops at vast scale.
California's Gold Country foothills — rocky, well-drained slopes and warm days that suit wine grapes, olives, and Mediterranean orchard crops.
A warm desert of saguaro and palo verde with mild winters that allow desert citrus, dates, and prickly pear alongside intensive irrigated gardening.