Amistad, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
On paper, artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Amistad, 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 Amistad 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 Amistad — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Amistad — the short answer
Amistad, Texas: USDA zone 9a, about 282 days between hard freezes, across 966 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 20
- Val Verde County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 29
- Val Verde County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~282
- Val Verde County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 966 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 Val Verde County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Amistad's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Amistad's 282-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Amistad
Each reading below is measured for Amistad itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsAmistad runs about 282 days between hard freezes (read from Val Verde County, the closest normal to Amistad) — 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
MeasuredAmistad sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a.
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 Amistad is in
Amistad sits in the Chihuahuan Deserts — EPA Level III, inside the wider North American Deserts. That is read at Amistad's own centroid rather than borrowed from Val Verde County.
What Grows in Amistad
Every plant below cleared Amistad's own zone 9a and its 282-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Amistad?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.
What's on the federal record near Amistad
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Amistad. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- COMSTOCK BORDER PATROL STATION TX11492Toxics Release Inventory · 8.1 mi
- US CBP DEL RIO BORDER PATROL SECTOR TRAINING FACILITY TX10160Toxics Release Inventory · 8.4 mi
- YR-71-40-601Nitrate · 8.7 mi
- Mexico No. 24 (Palo Blanco)Nitrate · 9.5 mi
Measured from Amistad'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 Amistad.
Total Sites
6
within ~10 miles of Amistad
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Amistad
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
- •TRI facilities report what they release. Check the wind — downwind beds catch more of it.
Check your specific parcel in Amistad
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 Amistad average
Your land is one point inside Amistad
Everything above resolves to Amistad as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 966 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Val Verde 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 Amistad Average
Amistad Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Amistad
- ●One soil character for all of Amistad
- ●Frost dates read at Amistad's scale: Feb 20 to Nov 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Amistad's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Amistad
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Amistad, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Amistad averages can't show:
We read public map data around Amistad — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Amistad average
How we know this about Amistad
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 Val Verde 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 Amistad
When does frost risk typically end in Amistad?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Amistad typically lands around Feb 20, 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 Mar 13.
When is the first frost in Amistad?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Amistad typically arrives around Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 15, so the watching starts about Oct 30 — about 282 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Amistad?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Amistad sees about 282 frost-free days — roughly Feb 20 through Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 13 to Nov 15, about 247 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Amistad?
The federal record around Amistad is light — 6 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Nitrate entries (4), the nearest Toxics Release Inventory record about 8.1 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 I protect my plants from frost in Amistad?
From about Oct 30 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 Nov 29 (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 Nov 29. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Amistad's scale — its 9a band and its 282-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Amistad'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 Amistad’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Amistad's own scale — the 966 acres it covers and 6 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Amistad's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 6 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Amistad, the closest Toxics Release Inventory record about 8.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Amistad's boundary and the 966 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~282-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Amistad's own centroid, the Chihuahuan DesertsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Amistad has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Val Verde County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Amistad's 966 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Val Verde County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Val Verde County
- The growing challenges every Texas grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Texas
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Val Verde County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Amistad's 966 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Amistad you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 966 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Toxics Release Inventory record about 8.1 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 Amistad-wide figureread your own land →
More in Texas
Wider growing context
What grows across TexasAmistad sits outside our named growing regions, so Texas as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides