What Grows in Fremont County, Wyoming

USDA Zones 5a · 5.9M acres

Fremont County, in Wyoming, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

These conditions suit cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Score your parcel · free

Fremont County holds more than one microclimate.

Soils and elevations shift across Fremont County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. 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 Fremont County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Fremont County — the short answer

Fremont County, Wyoming: USDA zone 5a, about 154 days between hard freezes, across 5.9M acres.

USDA zone
5a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
May 3
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 4
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
Days between freezes
~154
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
County area
5.9M acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 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

5a5a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 5a is Fremont County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Fremont County's 154-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Heat in Fremont County

Across a year, Fremont County accumulates about 2,041 growing degree days above 50°F, about 167 more than the middle Wyoming county — ahead of 15 of Wyoming’s 23 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.

Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals

Soil in Fremont County

Across Fremont County, the ground is predominantly Aridisols, where Bosler, Rock River, and Persayo are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 7.2–8.2, slightly alkaline. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group B soils.

Soil order

Aridisols

Drainage

Well drained

Hydric soils

2%

Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

How the ground varies across Fremont County

The USDA soil survey maps 85% of Fremont County as well drained — but another 7% drains differently: 2% somewhat poorly drained, 2% poorly drained.

Bosler is the most extensive named soil at 4% of mapped acres, then Rock River (4%) and Persayo (4%).

Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.

What this means for growing in Fremont County

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

Drainage

Measured

The dominant soils across Fremont County are well drained, in hydrologic group B — ground that drains quickly.

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

Measured

Topsoil across Fremont County runs about pH 7.2–8.2, on the alkaline side.

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

Season length

Measured

Fremont County runs about 154 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

Measured

Fremont County sits in USDA hardiness zone 5a.

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 Fremont County is in

Fremont County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Wyoming Basin (77%) and Middle Rockies (23%). Which one your land falls in changes what grows wild there and how the ground behaves, and a county-wide answer cannot tell you which.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Fremont County

We scored all 1,086 plants against Fremont County's own USDA zone 5a and its own 154-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Wyoming profile.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in WyomingZones 2–11Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Wyoming cranberry guideZones 2–7Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in WyomingZones 5–8Fremont County's 5a is its exact cold limit.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Wyoming growing notesZones 2–11Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in WyomingZones 4–9Fremont County's 5a — 1 zone of cold margin.
French tarragon, photograph
Wyoming french tarragon guideZones 3–7Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in WyomingZones 2–10Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Blackberry: Wyoming growing notesZones 5–8Fremont County's 5a is its exact cold limit.
St. Johns wort, photograph
Growing st. johns wort in WyomingZones 3–8Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Wyoming kale guideZones 2–11Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Pawpaw in WyomingZones 5–9Fremont County's 5a is its exact cold limit.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Wyoming growing notesZones 2–11Fremont County's 154 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in WyomingZones 2–12Fremont County's 154 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Wyoming potato guideZones 2–11Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in WyomingZones 3–11Fremont County's 154 days clear the ~40 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Wyoming growing notesZones 3–8Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in WyomingZones 2–11Fremont County's 154 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Wyoming azalea guideZones 4–8Fremont County's 5a — 1 zone of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in WyomingZones 3–8Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Wyoming growing notesZones 3–10Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in WyomingFremont County's 154 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Wyoming lilac guideZones 4–10Fremont County's 5a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American bittersweet, photograph
American bittersweet in WyomingZones 3–8Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Canada anemone, photograph
Canada anemone: Wyoming growing notesZones 3–8Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in WyomingZones 3–9Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.
annual ryegrass, photograph
Wyoming annual ryegrass guideZones 3–10Fremont County's 154 days clear the ~90 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in WyomingZones 2–7Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Blue spruce: Wyoming growing notesZones 2–8Fremont County's 5a — 3 zones of cold margin.
balansa clover, photograph
Growing balansa clover in WyomingZones 3–9Fremont County's 154 days clear the ~90 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Wyoming canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Fremont County's 5a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Fremont County?

For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. 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 4 — 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.

Documented around Fremont County

Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.

What gets applied to farmland in Fremont County

USGS estimates 41,074 lb of Glyphosate on Fremont County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of 2,4-d (12,636 lb) and Chlorpyrifos (5,132 lb).

Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.

Safe to Grow Here?

What the federal record shows across Fremont County — and how to grow with it.

Federal record: Elevated

We checked the federal record across Fremont County821 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.

The most significant on record: 4 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.

There's a meaningful federal record across Fremont County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.

Sources: EPA, USGS1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.

What's on the federal record near Fremont County

Closest first, across Fremont County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. Palmers Moneta ServiceUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
  2. 1N-02E-03daa01Nitrate · 2.1 mi
  3. 1N-03E-17add01Nitrate · 3.6 mi
  4. 1N-03E-16cca01Nitrate · 3.8 mi
  5. 1S-02E-09bbb02Nitrate · 4.6 mi
  6. 1S-02E-09bbb01Nitrate · 4.6 mi
  7. 1N-03E-27bbb02Nitrate · 4.7 mi
  8. 2N-03E-32aac01Nitrate · 5.1 mi
  9. 1S-03E-07dcd01Nitrate · 5.4 mi
  10. 1S-03E-17bcb01Nitrate · 5.8 mi
  11. 2N-03E-19dda01Nitrate · 5.8 mi
  12. SHOSHONE AND ARAPAHOE TRIBAL TRANSIT CENTERBrownfields · 5.9 mi

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

Measured from Fremont County'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 Fremont County.

Total Sites

821

across Fremont County

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

4 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

across Fremont County

High7Moderate477Low337

Highest-Severity Sites

B&H Mining Company
Mining Sites · Past Producer
Carissa Mine
Mining Sites · Past Producer
Diana Mine
Mining Sites · Past Producer
First Fike Subdivision
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Fort Washakie
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Fremont County, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 414 sites across Fremont County. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Fremont County

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 Fremont County average

Your land is one point inside Fremont County

Everything above resolves to Fremont County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 5.9M 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 county 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 county average.

Your Lot vs the Fremont County Average

Fremont County Average

  • USDA Zones 5a, averaged across Fremont County
  • One soil character for all of Fremont County
  • Frost dates read at Fremont County's scale: May 3 to Oct 4

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Fremont County's 5a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your parcel in Fremont County

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Fremont County, Wyoming — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Fremont County averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Fremont County averages 154Your sun & shade

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

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Fremont County average

How we know this about Fremont County

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Fremont County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.

Common questions about Fremont County

When does frost risk typically end in Fremont County?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Fremont County 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.

How long is the growing season in Fremont County?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Fremont County sees about 154 frost-free days — roughly May 3 through Oct 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 24 to Sep 20, about 119 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Fremont County?

The federal record around Fremont County is a meaningful one — 821 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (414), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.5 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.

Everything above is measured at Fremont County's scale — its 5a band and its 154-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Fremont County'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 Fremont County’s own scale

9 of the readings below were taken at Fremont County's own scale — its own ~154-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 821 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Fremont County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Fremont County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~154-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Fremont CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
  • 821 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.5 miles outFederal environmental registers
  • Fremont County's boundary and the 5,877,496 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5a and a ~154-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The 2 ecoregions Fremont County spans, Wyoming Basin the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Open occurrence records documented in Fremont County for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
  • Which agricultural compounds go onto Fremont County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates

Inherited from a wider read

  • The growing challenges every Wyoming grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Wyoming

What this page can’t tell you

  • How the season shifts across Fremont County — the ~154 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county
  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Fremont County's 5,877,496 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which of those 821 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Fremont Countyread your own land
Go one step finer: towns in Fremont County