Coffee Senna is a perennial grown for its fruit. It's hardy across USDA zones 12 through 13, stands up to deer and handles dry spells once it's established. Its flowers are a moderate draw for honeybees and native bees, even though the fruit is the prize.
Coffee Senna — the short answer
Coffee Senna: grown in zones 12–13, full sun, pH 4.5–8.4.
- USDA zones
- 12–13
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 4.5–8.4
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Coffee Senna on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether coffee senna actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score coffee senna against your land's real conditions.
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What Coffee Senna is
Coffee Senna grows as a perennial and reaches around eight feet at maturity. It's also deer-resistant.
How to grow Coffee Senna
Coffee Senna grows in USDA zones 12 through 13. Coffee Senna does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 4.5 to 8.4, on evenly moist to well-drained ground. It needs around 3,000 growing degree days to mature, a growing season of at least 210 frost-free days, and about 0 hours of winter chill to set fruit, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
12-13
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
4.5 - 8.4
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
poorly (saturated >50% of year), well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Minimum Growing Temperature
48.2°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
GDD Required
3000+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
8 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Chill Hours
0+
Winter hours below ~45°F it needs to fruit — too-mild winters can leave it bloom-shy.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
210+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant coffee senna in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed.
Match the soil
Coffee Senna prefers pH 4.5 to 8.4 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at maturity
Pick when the fruit is full-colored and parts easily from the stem. Local Cooperative Extension guides publish timing tables.
Where Coffee Senna thrives
Coffee Senna is hardy across USDA zones 12 through 13. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 12–13 spans average winter lows from 50°F to 70°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers none outright but splits 2 down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 12–13·Where Coffee Senna growsOpen map →
Continental US shown — Alaska and US Pacific territories sit outside the federal map's polygon dataset.
Where Coffee Senna stands, state by state
Coffee Senna is rated for zones 12–13 — a cold floor USDA puts at 50 to 60°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 0 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 2 more, and 49 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
The line runs through
2 states
Coffee Senna’s band covers part of each of these states — which side of the line your county sits on changes the answer, and each state page draws it.
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Coffee Senna
Growing guides for coffee senna
In rotation planning, coffee senna counts as a Legume — beds recover best when legume crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Good to know
One caution for pet owners — coffee senna is toxic to dogs and cats (moderate severity). Keep it out of reach, and call ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435 in an emergency. (Source: Cornell Poisonous Plants Database.)
Coffee Senna offers moderate value to bees and other pollinators.
Before you harvest coffee senna, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant coffee senna for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Coffee Senna's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Coffee Senna will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether coffee senna actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Coffee Senna
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Coffee Senna in my zone?
Coffee Senna grows in USDA hardiness zones 12 through 13 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
When should you plant Coffee Senna?
Most growers plant coffee senna after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed, leaving enough of the season for its 210-day frost-free need. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Coffee Senna need?
Coffee Senna needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Coffee Senna need?
Coffee Senna prefers soil pH 4.5 to 8.4, on evenly moist to well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Coffee Senna attract pollinators?
Yes — coffee senna's flowers are a solid nectar source for honeybees and native bees.
Is Coffee Senna safe for pets?
Coffee Senna is toxic to pets (dogs,cats) with moderate severity. Keep it out of reach, and call ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435 in an emergency. (Source: Cornell Poisonous Plants Database.)