The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) spans USDA hardiness zones 6a-7a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
Arizona's high green country — at the White Mountain towns the committed record reads 6a-7a with a 145-176-day season, mountain gardening closer to Colorado than to the desert two hours down the hill. Among the crops suited to this profile: jalapeno and prickly pear. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) spans Arizona.
Your yard isn't all of the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona).
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) spans USDA zones 6a-7a, 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — the short answer
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona): USDA zones 6a-7a, 145–176 frost-free days depending where in it you stand, in Arizona.
- USDA zones
- 6a-7a
- USDA PHZM 2023, aggregated over the footprint
- Shortest season here
- 145 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020 — Greer
- Towns
- 5
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Region type
- Town 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 5 member towns, not a state or national average.
Hardiness Zone Range
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) is not one growing season
One answer for the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) averages 5 towns whose growing seasons are 31 days apart — from 145 frost-free days in Greer to 176 in Show Low. 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 5 towns runs 159–165 days, with a median of 164 days — a 31-day span end to end.
Measured across 5 member towns, 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
The middle half of the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) runs 159–165 frost-free days, and 2 of its 5 towns 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 159 frost-free days
1 town
- Greer · 145 days
The end of the region that sets the planting calendar — start seed indoors here and the season stretches to meet the crop.
159–165 frost-free days
3 towns
0 of 3 shown
The middle half of the region, and the part a single regional season describes well.
Over 165 frost-free days
1 town
- Show Low · 176 days
Long enough for a second succession of a quick crop after the first comes out.
Each town 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 town as well — which is the part only your address resolves.
What Grows in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
All 1 of the plants below that publish a season requirement clear even Greer’s 145 frost-free days — so on season alone, this grid works at both ends of the region. The 31-day spread still decides how far past this list you can push, and how early you can start.
Plants matched to the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)'s USDA zones 6a-7a, 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in this region’s state, kept only where the published hardiness range meets the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)’s USDA zones 6a-7a — 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 around the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
The USDA soil survey maps this ground county by county. These are those records weighted by land area across the two counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — the ground the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) sits in, read at the only grain the survey publishes.
In the counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona), the ground is predominantly Entisols, at 41% of mapped acres, followed by Aridisols (33%), Mollisols (12%) and Alfisols (11%). Seven soil orders appear in that record, which is the honest reason a regional soil answer only goes so far. The most extensive named soils are Sheppard, Clovis, and Monue.
67% of those acres are well drained, and another 11% somewhat excessively drained, 9% excessively drained. Topsoil pH runs 7.6–8.2 between the lowest and the highest county on record. 0% of the footprint is classed prime farmland.
Soil order
Entisols
Drainage
Well drained
Topsoil pH
7.6–8.2
Hydric soils
0%
Soil changes across a driveway, so which of these your own ground sits on is a parcel question rather than a regional one. soil types explained.
USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access
What this means for growing in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
The soil survey reads this ground county by county, and the readings above are the record for the counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona). Here is what they mean for a garden here — and the move an experienced grower makes about each one.
Drainage
From county records67% of the mapped acres across the counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) are well drained — ground that drains quickly. The survey maps this ground county-wide, so it describes the setting the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) sits in rather than the valley floor alone.
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 counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) runs pH 7.6–8.2 — alkaline in all two of them.
Many vegetables cope, but acid-lovers like blueberries struggle, and iron and manganese lock up above about pH 7.5 — leaves yellow between the veins even in rich soil.
Elemental sulfur and generous organic matter lower pH slowly for the beds that need it; test first so you add only what the soil actually calls for.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — and how to grow with it.
Across the 2 counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) the federal record holds 2,362 documented sites, mostly Nitrate (1,824), Underground Storage Tanks (357) and Brownfields (95). The heaviest single county is Navajo County, with 1,238.
That is the containing counties' count — this region is a smaller piece of that ground, so it is context, not a reading of any one lot. Open the map outlined to the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) to see which records sit where you actually grow.
Sources Checked
Summed across the 2 counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona), two things run higher than the national average across the 2 counties containing the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — Nitrate (1,824 sites) and PFAS (23 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
Your land is one point inside the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
Everything above resolves to the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) as a whole — a footprint whose own towns record seasons 31 days apart, and hardiness across zones 6a-7a. 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) Average
White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) Average
- ●USDA Zones 6a-7a, averaged across White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
- ●One soil character for all of White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
- ●State-average frost dates
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)'s 6a-7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, contamination, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) averages can't show:
We read public map data around The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) average
How we know this about the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
The boundary: the region's own towns — a footprint finer than any county, because the county average would misread this microclimate. Growing regions have no official boundary, so this footprint is our published one, and every figure on this page was measured over the towns 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
What hardiness zone is the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)?
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) spans USDA hardiness zones 6a-7a, aggregated from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 across the region's own towns. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 data.
How long is the growing season in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)'s towns mostly run 159 to 165 frost-free days, median 164 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991–2020, over 5 member towns). That 6-day spread is the honest read — no single season describes 5 towns, and each town guide below carries its own.
When does frost risk end in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)?
Across the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona), the middle half of member towns see their last 28°F hard freeze between May 6 and May 9 (median May 8), and their first fall freeze between Oct 15 and Oct 20. Those are hard freezes, not the last light frost: tender transplants wait for about May 29, and elevation decides which end of a 3-day spread you garden in.
What grows well in the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)?
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)'s conditions suit plants such as Jalapeno, Prickly Pear. 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) defined?
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) is a true microclimate — smaller than the counties that contain it, with a growing reality of its own. So this page is built from the region's own 5 towns, each carrying its own hardiness zone and frost record, rather than from a county average measured somewhere else.
Which states does the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) cover?
The White Mountains (Eastern Arizona) spans Arizona. Each state's full growing guide is linked on this page.
What other growing regions cover the same states?
Sonoran Desert, Sonoita / Elgin, Lower Colorado River Corridor, Willcox AVA, Flagstaff & San Francisco Peaks High Country, and Mogollon Rim Country (Payson) share at least one state with the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona). 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at the White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)'s own scale — the zone 6a-7a band across its footprint, a median 164-day season across its 5 towns and 2,362 documented federal contamination records across its 2 counties, 1,238 of them in Navajo County alone; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- The USDA hardiness band 6a-7a aggregated across all 5 towns in the footprintUSDA PHZM 2023
- The boundary itself — the 5 towns 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 5 towns run 159 to 165 frost-free days, median 164NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020
- The federal contamination record over the whole footprint — 2,362 documented federal contamination records across its 2 counties, 1,238 of them in Navajo County aloneEPA, USGS and USDA federal site records
- The soil order mix across the footprint — 41% Entisols, topsoil pH 7.6–8.2, area-weighted across its 2 mapped countiesUSDA NRCS SSURGO
Inherited from a wider read
- The candidate plant list — its state's curated sets, merged and filtered to zones 6a-7afrom Arizona
What this page can’t tell you
- Which end of the 6-day range your ground sits at — 159 days at one extreme, 165 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 White Mountains (Eastern Arizona)
State growing guides
Towns in this region
Counties containing this region
Other growing regions across Arizona
A warm desert of saguaro and palo verde with mild winters that allow desert citrus, dates, and prickly pear alongside intensive irrigated gardening.
Defined by the TTB's Sonoita American Viticultural Area (27 CFR § 9.97) — Arizona's first AVA, established in 1984 — this high-desert grassland spans Cochise, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties across USDA zones 8a to 9a, where the frost-free season runs roughly 264 to 313 days.
The river towns from Bullhead City to Parker — essentially frost-free 9a-10a bottomland where citrus and winter gardens run while the Mohave high desert a half-hour up the grade freezes.
Established by the TTB in 2016 across parts of Cochise and Graham Counties in southeastern Arizona, the Willcox AVA spans USDA hardiness zones 8a to 8b with a roughly 264-to-266-day frost-free season.
The cold antithesis of desert Arizona: a ponderosa-pine plateau near 7,000 ft where Flagstaff sits in USDA zone 6a and Bellemont drops to 5b, with only about 150 frost-free days — roughly mid-May last frost to mid-October first frost (Coconino County, api/data/county_data.json). The statewide "zone 9b, near-frost-free" framing is actively wrong here; growers plan around snow, a short cool-season window, and hard frost dates instead of citrus and dates.
Payson's mid-elevation shelf under the Mogollon Rim — real winter frost and a 7b-8a, 214-237-day season that splits the difference between the low desert's heat and the Rim top's snow; pine-country gardening with monsoon summers.