Will it grow where you are?
Enter your ZIP code and we'll tell you your zone, which of our yards is closest, and what actually matters for planting where you live.
Three climates, one company
Our six yards span about ninety miles and a surprising amount of climate. Material that thrives at one end can struggle at the other.
Low desert
9b – 10aCoachella Valley — Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio, Coachella, Thermal, Mecca, Thousand Palms
- Heat is the limiting factor, not cold. Frost hits a handful of nights a year, mostly in open low ground.
- West and south exposures are punishing. Reflected heat off block walls and paving is worth a full zone.
- Plant October through March. Summer planting is a fight you usually lose.
- Desert-adapted material earns its keep: palo verde, mesquite, ironwood, ocotillo, agave, barrel cactus, Texas ranger, brittlebush.
Closest yard Thousand Palms (three yards) and Mecca
Inland valleys
9b – 10aRiverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Perris, Temecula, Murrieta, San Bernardino, Redlands
- Hot summers, but ten to fifteen degrees off the valley floor and cooler at night.
- Frost is a real event here. Cold air pools in low ground, so a hollow can run several degrees under the ridge above it.
- The widest planting palette of the three. Everything from the desert list works, plus jacaranda, crape myrtle, magnolia, photinia and pittosporum.
- Citrus does well with regular water and some wind protection.
Closest yard Riverside
Coastal foothills
10a – 10bFallbrook, Bonsall, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Valley Center, Oceanside, Carlsbad
- The mildest of the three. Ocean influence takes the edge off both summer and winter.
- Frost is rare but real in canyon bottoms on a still night.
- Subtropicals thrive: plumeria, hibiscus, ixora, gardenia, bougainvillea, citrus.
- Desert plants still work, but drainage matters more than cold. What kills agave here is a wet winter in heavy soil, not the temperature.
Closest yard Fallbrook
What the zone number doesn't tell you
A USDA hardiness zone measures one thing: the average coldest winter night. That's useful in Ohio. Out here it's the least of your problems.
Nothing in that number accounts for heat. A plant tagged for zone 9 might be perfectly happy through a Coachella Valley winter and still cook to death in July, because 118°F in full sun against a west-facing block wall is a different planet from 118°F in the shade. Reflected heat off paving and walls can add the equivalent of a full zone.
It also says nothing about soil, water, wind or humidity. In Fallbrook the thing that kills agave isn't cold — it's a wet winter in heavy soil, rotting the roots from underneath. Same plant, same zone, completely different failure.
Sunset's Western Garden zones handle this better than USDA because they factor in summer heat and season length. If you see a Sunset zone on a tag, trust it further out here.
Your yard isn't one climate either
Before you buy, walk the spot at two in the afternoon in summer. A south or west wall throws heat well into the evening. A low corner collects cold air on a frost night and can run several degrees under the rest of the property. Under a mature tree is a different world again. The difference across thirty feet of yard is often bigger than the difference between our Thousand Palms and Riverside yards.
When to plant
In the low desert, plant between October and March. Roots get established in cool soil and the plant meets its first summer already settled. Plant in June and you'll spend the season keeping it alive. Inland and coastal give you a wider window, but autumn is still the best planting season in all three regions.
Or just ask us
Tell us where the job is, which way it faces and what you're trying to achieve. Our yard managers have been planting in these conditions for years and will tell you plainly if something won't work.