Unlikely — Zone Mismatch
dragonfruit (zones 9-11) does not overlap with Maryland's zone range (5b-8a). Growing outdoors is unlikely without significant protection.
One zone short — what would close it
Dragonfruit is hardy to zone 9, and the warmest ground in Maryland is zone 8 — 1 zone short. Planted in open ground it will not survive a Maryland winter. To grow it here, grow dragonfruit in a hoop house or unheated greenhouse — its modeled 1.5-zone lift covers this gap.
A hoop house or unheated greenhouse is the lift this needs. How a greenhouse changes what you can grow →
Zone math from 9-11 (plant) against 6-8 (Maryland). Lift modeled by crop_engine.GREENHOUSE_ZONE_MODIFIER_BY_SUBTYPE['hoop_house'] (+1.5 zones) via api/fast_sections.py Unlock Engine v2.
Dragonfruit in Maryland — the short answer
Dragonfruit in Maryland: hardy in zones 9–11, against a state median of ~238 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 9-11
- 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
- Maryland zones
- 5b-8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Mar 18 - Mar 29 – Nov 11 - Nov 27
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 190 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Maryland spans zones 5b-8a, but your yard has its own microclimate — slope, trees, and low spots shift frost and sun across a single parcel. Enter your address and we'll score dragonfruit against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Maryland is not one climate
A single Maryland answer averages 24 counties whose growing seasons are 80 days apart — from 190 frost-free days in Garrett County to 270 in Talbot County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what dragonfruit can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 24 counties runs 225–255 days, with a median of 237 days — a 80-day span end to end.
Measured across 24 Maryland counties. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where Dragonfruit Stands in Maryland
Dragonfruit is rated for zones 9–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at 20 to 30°F. No Maryland county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Maryland winters, not about dragonfruit.
Below the zone 9 floor
24 counties
- Garrett County · zone 6a
- Allegany County · zone 7a
- Carroll County · zone 7a
3 of 24 shown
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant works in a container that comes under cover.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
Dragonfruit Needs
- USDA Zones: 9-11
- Mature size: 20 ft tall
- Drought tolerance: Medium
Maryland Has
- USDA Zones: 5b-8a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Mar 18 - Mar 29
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 11 - Nov 27
- Annual Rainfall: 36-48 inches
- Common Soils: Silt loam, Clay, Sandy loam (Eastern Shore)
Plant Zone Range (zones 9-11)
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Dragonfruit in Maryland
The frost window
Across Maryland, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 18 and Mar 29, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 11 and Nov 27 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 227-day window you can count on — up to 254 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Garrett County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says dragonfruit does not survive a Maryland winter in the ground. The season figures below measure a different question — whether it could finish a season here at all — and they only bear on Maryland under protection.
Growing degree days
Dragonfruit needs ~4000 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. The state median runs ~3789 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Maryland's typical season runs short on heat — pick a south-facing site and consider season extension.
Chill hours
Dragonfruit has no winter-chill requirement — its listed minimum is 0 hours (Growable Ground Plant Database). Maryland typically banks ~2500 chill hours per winter (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so chill is not a constraint on this plant here — and not evidence in its favour either. Winter survival and season length are what decide it.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Before you plant dragonfruit for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before dragonfruit goes in. What follows is Maryland’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Maryland — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Maryland — 28,014 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 167 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Maryland carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Maryland
Severity Distribution
across Maryland
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Maryland, CAFO runs higher than the national average — 623 sites across Maryland. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Dragonfruit in Maryland
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Maryland growers also need to think about:
Heavy Piedmont clay drains poorly
Humidity and heat in summer promote disease
Deer pressure in suburban areas is extreme
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Maryland grower, not just dragonfruit — is covered on the Maryland growing guide.
Timing shifts within Maryland
Maryland isn't one climate. In Garrett County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about Apr 22 — roughly 29 days later than the recorded state median — so plant dragonfruit to your county's window, not the statewide date.
County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Where in Maryland Dragonfruit Is Zone-Hardy
Dragonfruit is rated for USDA zones 9–11. No Maryland county reaches it. Even Talbot County, the state’s mildest winter at zone 8a, sits below the plant’s zone 9 floor — so in open ground this one needs winter protection here, or a container that comes under cover.
Across those 24 counties Maryland’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 6a in Garrett County to zone 8a in Talbot County — 2 USDA zones of spread, which is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. None of that range reaches the band dragonfruit needs, so here the statewide answer really is the answer.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. Dragonfruit’s zone 9–11 band: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Dragonfruit draws moths (moderate value, Growable Ground Plant Database). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, dragonfruit can only work that bloom inside Maryland's frost window — roughly 238 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Mar 18 - Mar 29) and closing at the first (Nov 11 - Nov 27), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020.
Maryland Cooperative Extension
For Maryland-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for dragonfruit, the canonical source is University of Maryland Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing Dragonfruit in Maryland
When can I plant Dragonfruit in Maryland?
Maryland's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 18 and Mar 29, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 11 and Nov 27 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Time outdoor planting to after the last hard freeze for your specific site — a further two to three weeks for anything tender — and count back from those dates for transplant scheduling.
What hardiness zone is Dragonfruit grown in across Maryland?
Maryland spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-8a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Dragonfruit carries a range of zones 9-11, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Maryland site have?
A typical Maryland site sees ~238 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Dragonfruit should be matched against that window, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Garrett, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
Will Dragonfruit actually grow on my specific land in Maryland?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores dragonfruit against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Maryland
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores dragonfruit against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Maryland dragonfruit averages can't show:
We read public map data around Maryland — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Maryland dragonfruit average
Explore More
Growing guides for dragonfruit
Explore Maryland county by county
Maryland carries 24 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for dragonfruit there:
Where else dragonfruit grows
Dragonfruit's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Maryland in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Maryland
Maryland has a growing page for 1,020 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Analysis by the Growable Ground research team, grounded in USDA PLANTS, USDA NRCS SSURGO, NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020), and named Cooperative Extension sources. How we know →
Cite this dataset
Kirchick, M. (2026). Growable Ground Plant Database [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21435643
Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21435643
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