What Grows in La Coma Heights, Texas

USDA Zones 10a · 628 acres

La Coma Heights, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

Among the crops suited to this profile: okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.

Score your parcel · free

Even in La Coma Heights, 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 La Coma Heights 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 La Coma Heights — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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La Coma Heights — the short answer

La Coma Heights, Texas: USDA zone 10a, about 341 days between hard freezes, across 628 acres of town.

USDA zone
10a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Jan 16
Hidalgo County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 23
Hidalgo County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~341
Hidalgo County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
628 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 Hidalgo County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

10a10a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 10a is La Coma Heights's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against La Coma Heights's 341-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in La Coma Heights

Each reading below is measured for La Coma Heights itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

From county records

La Coma Heights runs about 341 days between hard freezes (read from Hidalgo County, the closest normal to La Coma Heights) — 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

Measured

La Coma Heights 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 La Coma Heights is in

La Coma Heights sits in the Western Gulf Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at La Coma Heights's own centroid rather than borrowed from Hidalgo County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in La Coma Heights

Every plant below cleared La Coma Heights's own zone 10a and its 341-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.

okra, photograph
Growing okra in TexasZones 2–12La Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~50 it needs.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Texas meyer lemon guideZones 9–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in TexasZones 6–10La Coma Heights's 10a — 4 zones of cold margin.
artichoke, photograph
Artichoke: Texas growing notesZones 7–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 3 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Growing avocado in TexasZones 9–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
basil, photograph
Texas basil guideZones 10–11La Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~80 it needs.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage in TexasZones 2–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
banana, photograph
Banana: Texas growing notesZones 9–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Growing rosemary in TexasZones 8–10La Coma Heights's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Texas collard greens guideZones 2–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
citrus, photograph
Citrus in TexasZones 9–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Kale: Texas growing notesZones 2–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Growing lentil in TexasZones 2–11La Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~70 it needs.
potato, photograph
Texas potato guideZones 2–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in TexasZones 3–11La Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Texas growing notesZones 3–10La Coma Heights's 10a — 7 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in TexasZones 2–11La Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Texas apache plume guideZones 5–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
bougainvillea, photograph
Bougainvillea in TexasZones 9–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
lantana, photograph
Lantana: Texas growing notesZones 10–11La Coma Heights's 10a is its exact cold limit.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in TexasLa Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Texas holly guideZones 5–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
jasmine, photograph
Jasmine in TexasZones 9–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: Texas growing notesZones 5–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
moringa, photograph
Growing moringa in TexasZones 9–12La Coma Heights's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
African foxtail, photograph
Texas african foxtail guideZones 8–13La Coma Heights's 341 days clear the ~120 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in TexasZones 5–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
palo verde, photograph
Palo verde: Texas growing notesZones 8–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Vuda blue grass, photograph
Growing vuda blue grass in TexasZones 8–13La Coma Heights's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
liriope, photograph
Texas liriope guideZones 5–11La Coma Heights's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in La Coma Heights?

Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. 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 16 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 23 — 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 La Coma Heights

Closest first, within ~10 miles of La Coma Heights. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. SOUTH TEXAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT EDINBURGUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.1 mi
  2. TENNESSEE GAS PIPELINE DISTRICT 409Underground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  3. HIDALGO COUNTY SHERRIFFS OFFICE MOTOR POOLUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  4. FAMILY DOLLAR #9301Brownfields · 4.4 mi
  5. PASIANO MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.7 mi
  6. M L MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.7 mi
  7. SAN MANUEL BUTANE SERVICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.9 mi
  8. LOVES TRAVEL STOP 284Underground Storage Tanks · 5.5 mi
  9. ABREGO TRUCKING SERVICEBrownfields · 5.6 mi
  10. EDINBURG TRAVEL CENTER 235Underground Storage Tanks · 5.7 mi
  11. EDINBURG REFINED PRODUCT TERMINALBrownfields · 5.9 mi
  12. EDINBURG REFINED PRODUCT TERMINALToxics Release Inventory · 5.9 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from La Coma Heights'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 La Coma Heights.

Total Sites

294

within ~10 miles of La Coma Heights

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

3 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of La Coma Heights

High0Moderate94Low200

Highest-Severity Sites

281 Fuel Stop & More
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
7-Eleven Store 40678
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
7-Eleven Store 40681
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
7-Eleven Store 40682
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
7-Eleven Store 40690
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around La Coma Heights, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 276 sites within ~10 miles of La Coma Heights. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.

Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in La Coma Heights

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 La Coma Heights average

Your land is one point inside La Coma Heights

Everything above resolves to La Coma Heights as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 628 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Hidalgo 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 La Coma Heights Average

La Coma Heights Average

  • USDA Zones 10a, averaged across La Coma Heights
  • One soil character for all of La Coma Heights
  • Frost dates read at La Coma Heights's scale: Jan 16 to Dec 23

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not La Coma Heights's 10a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in La Coma Heights

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in La Coma Heights, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that La Coma Heights averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — La Coma Heights averages 341Your sun & shade

We read public map data around La Coma Heights — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the La Coma Heights average

How we know this about La Coma Heights

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 Hidalgo 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 La Coma Heights

When does frost risk typically end in La Coma Heights?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in La Coma Heights typically lands around Jan 16, 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 6.

When is the first frost in La Coma Heights?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in La Coma Heights typically arrives around Dec 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Dec 9, so the watching starts about Nov 23 — about 341 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in La Coma Heights?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, La Coma Heights sees about 341 frost-free days — roughly Jan 16 through Dec 23, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 6 to Dec 9, about 306 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in La Coma Heights?

The federal record around La Coma Heights is a meaningful one — 294 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (276), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.1 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 La Coma Heights?

From about Nov 23 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 23 (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 23. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at La Coma Heights's scale — its 10a band and its 341-day season. Your yard writes its own version of La Coma Heights'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 La Coma Heights’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at La Coma Heights's own scale — the 628 acres it covers and 294 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • La Coma Heights's own USDA hardiness band, zones 10aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 294 documented contamination sites on the federal record near La Coma Heights, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • La Coma Heights's boundary and the 628 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 10a and a ~341-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at La Coma Heights's own centroid, the Western Gulf Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — La Coma Heights has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Hidalgo County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so La Coma Heights's 628 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Hidalgo County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among La Coma Heights's 628 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of La Coma Heights you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 628 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.1 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 La Coma Heights-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address