Dutch John, Utah, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
On paper, cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Dutch John, 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 Dutch John 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 Dutch John — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Dutch John — the short answer
Dutch John, Utah: USDA zone 5b, about 155 days between hard freezes, across 4K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 5b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 3
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 5
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~155
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 4K 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 5b is Dutch John's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Dutch John's 155-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Dutch John
Each reading below is measured for Dutch John itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredDutch John runs about 155 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredDutch John sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.
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 Dutch John is in
Dutch John sits in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northwestern Forested Mountains. That is read at Dutch John's own centroid rather than borrowed from Daggett County.
What Grows in Dutch John
Every plant below cleared Dutch John's own zone 5b and its 155-day season. Each card opens that plant's Utah profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Dutch John?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 5; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 3 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. The tail of the season still works: sixty-day crops into late summer, quick greens after, garlic last of all.
What's on the federal record near Dutch John
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Dutch John. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- DELTA PROPERTIESUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- FLAMING GORGE RECREATION SERVUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- UTAH WILDLIFE RESOURCESUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- DUTCH JOHN AIRPORTUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- TROUT CREEK FLYFISHER, INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- DUTCH JOHN LANDFILLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- CEDAR SPRINGS MARINAUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.6 mi
- Dutch John Mountain WorkingsMining · 2.7 mi
- Dutch John MountainMining · 2.7 mi
- FLAMING GORGE RESORTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- NORTHWEST TAP STATIONBrownfields · 4.3 mi
- RED CANYON LODGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Dutch John'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 Dutch John.
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Dutch John
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •Mine waste leaches heavy metals. Test for lead, arsenic and cadmium before growing food here.
- •Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
Check your specific parcel in Dutch John
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 Dutch John average
Your land is one point inside Dutch John
Everything above resolves to Dutch John as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 4K 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 Dutch John Average
Dutch John Average
- ●USDA Zones 5b, averaged across Dutch John
- ●One soil character for all of Dutch John
- ●Frost dates read at Dutch John's scale: May 3 to Oct 5
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Dutch John's 5b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Dutch John
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Dutch John, Utah — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Dutch John averages can't show:
We read public map data around Dutch John — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Dutch John average
How we know this about Dutch John
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 Dutch John’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 Dutch John
When does frost risk typically end in Dutch John?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Dutch John typically lands around May 3, 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 May 24.
When is the first frost in Dutch John?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Dutch John typically arrives around Oct 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 21, so the watching starts about Sep 5 — about 155 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Dutch John?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Dutch John sees about 155 frost-free days — roughly May 3 through Oct 5, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 24 to Sep 21, about 120 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Dutch John?
The federal record around Dutch John is light — 20 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (11), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Dutch John?
From about Sep 5 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 Oct 5 (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 Oct 5. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Dutch John's scale — its 5b band and its 155-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Dutch John'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 Dutch John’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at Dutch John's own scale — its own ~155-day season between 28°F freezes, the 3,775 acres it covers and 20 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Dutch John's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Dutch John's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 3 and Oct 5 and the ~155-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 20 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Dutch John, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Dutch John's boundary and the 3,775 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~155-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Dutch John's own centroid, the Wasatch and Uinta MountainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Dutch John's 3,775 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Daggett County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Daggett County
- The growing challenges every Utah grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Utah
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Daggett County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Dutch John's 3,775 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Dutch John you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 3,775 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Dutch John-wide figureread your own land →
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