Deconstruct SunLas Cruces, NM: Hardiness Zone 8b & Sunlight by Season
Las Cruces is in USDA hardiness zone 8b. Here’s what that means for winter, plus sunrise, sunset, daylight hours and the sun’s path through the year.
Zone 8b in Las Cruces
On the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Las Cruces falls in zone 8b. That means the coldest night of a typical winter drops to between 15 and 20 °F. Perennials, shrubs and trees labeled for zone 8b or colder (a lower number) should survive the winter here.
A zone only covers winter cold. For a plant to do well it also needs the right amount of sun, and that varies far more from one corner of a yard to the next than the zone does across town.
This is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Zones are derived from the official 2023 dataset, resampled to about 2 km.
Nearby cities
- El Paso, TX Zone 8b
- Roswell, NM Zone 7b
- Albuquerque, NM Zone 7b
- Rio Rancho, NM Zone 7b
- Santa Fe, NM Zone 6b
- Tucson, AZ Zone 9b
- Odessa, TX Zone 8b
- Midland, TX Zone 8b
The sun over Las Cruces
On the June solstice the sun rises in the northeast at 6:00 AM and climbs to 81° above the horizon at 1:09 PM. On the December solstice the noon sun reaches only 34°, so a 20-foot tree casts a noon shadow about 29 feet long. In June the same tree’s noon shadow is only 3 feet.
Sunrise, sunset & daylight by month
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight | Noon sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21 | 7:06 AM | 5:30 PM | 10h 24m | 38° |
| Feb 21 | 6:43 AM | 5:58 PM | 11h 15m | 47° |
| Mar 21 | 7:09 AM | 7:19 PM | 12h 10m | 58° |
| Apr 21 | 6:30 AM | 7:41 PM | 13h 10m | 70° |
| May 21 | 6:05 AM | 8:02 PM | 13h 57m | 78° |
| Jun 21 | 6:00 AM | 8:17 PM | 14h 16m | 81° |
| Jul 21 | 6:14 AM | 8:12 PM | 13h 57m | 78° |
| Aug 21 | 6:35 AM | 7:44 PM | 13h 09m | 70° |
| Sep 21 | 6:54 AM | 7:04 PM | 12h 10m | 58° |
| Oct 21 | 7:15 AM | 6:27 PM | 11h 12m | 47° |
| Nov 21 | 6:41 AM | 5:03 PM | 10h 22m | 38° |
| Dec 21 | 7:04 AM | 5:06 PM | 10h 02m | 34° |
Local time (Denver), including daylight saving time. “Noon sun” is the sun’s height above the horizon at solar noon.
Daylight through the year
What “full sun” means in Las Cruces
Full sun is 6+ hours of direct sun. In Las Cruces an open spot has 14.3 hours of daylight to work with in June and 10.0 in December, so a bed that clears 6 hours in summer can easily drop to part shade in winter once the low sun slips behind trees and houses.
Measure the sun in your Las Cruces yard
Daylight is the ceiling. Deconstruct Sun traces the trees and buildings around one exact spot and tells you its real direct-sun hours, today and at every solstice and equinox.
Questions
What hardiness zone is Las Cruces, NM in?
Las Cruces, New Mexico is in USDA plant hardiness zone 8b on the 2023 map. The average coldest winter night is 15 to 20 °F (−9.4 to −6.7 °C).
How many hours of daylight does Las Cruces get?
About 14.3 hours on the June solstice (sunrise 6:00 AM, sunset 8:17 PM) and 10.0 hours on the December solstice (sunrise 7:04 AM, sunset 5:06 PM). Around the equinoxes it is close to 12 hours.
How many hours of sun does my Las Cruces yard get?
Up to the daylight hours above, minus whatever trees, buildings and fences block. In winter, when the sun stays low, that can be most of it. The Deconstruct Sun iPhone app measures the real direct-sun hours for one exact spot by having you trace what is around it.
When is the best time to plant in Las Cruces?
Zone 8b tells you which perennials survive winter, not planting dates. For timing, use your local average frost dates from your county extension office, and choose plants rated for zone 8b or colder.
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023. Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, planthardiness.ars.usda.gov. Underlying data © PRISM Group, Oregon State University, prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed 2026-08-30. Sun times calculated for 32.326, -106.790.