Conditional — Some Areas
feather top Rhodes grass (zones 7-11) reaches only part of Kansas (5b-7a): zone 7 are in range, so where you are in the state decides it.
Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas — the short answer
Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas: hardy in zones 7–11, full sun, against a state median of ~208 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 7-11
- 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
- Kansas zones
- 5b-7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 1 - Apr 12 – Oct 25 - Nov 3
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 177 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.
Kansas spans zones 5b-7a, 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 feather top rhodes grass 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.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Kansas is not one climate
A single Kansas answer averages 105 counties whose growing seasons are 54 days apart — from 177 frost-free days in Greeley County to 231 in Crawford County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what feather top rhodes grass can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 105 counties runs 197–216 days, with a median of 208 days — a 54-day span end to end.
Measured across 105 Kansas 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 in Kansas Fits Best
Feather Top Rhodes Grass is rated for zones 7–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at 0 to 10°F. Against Kansas’s 105 counties that band holds in 16 of them, and the line runs at Barber County (zone 7a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 7–11
16 counties
- Bourbon County · zone 7a
- Butler County · zone 7a
- Chautauqua County · zone 7a
3 of 16 shown
Below the zone 7 floor
89 counties
- Atchison County · zone 6a
- Brown County · zone 6a
- Cheyenne County · zone 6a
3 of 89 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.
Even within Kansas's zones 5b-7a, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for feather top rhodes grass (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Feather Top Rhodes Grass Needs
- USDA Zones: 7-11
- Frost-Free Days: 90+
- Sun: Full Sun
Kansas Has
- USDA Zones: 5b-7a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 1 - Apr 12
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 25 - Nov 3
- Annual Rainfall: 16-42 inches
- Common Soils: Prairie loam, Silt loam, Clay
Plant Zone Range (zones 7-11)
Preferred Soil pH
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 Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas
The frost window
Across Kansas, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 1 and Apr 12, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 25 and Nov 3 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 196-day window you can count on — up to 216 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.
When to start the seed
Feather Top Rhodes Grass is direct-sown where it grows rather than started under cover, so there is no seed-tray head start to bank — Kansas's dates above are the whole calendar for it. That makes the last-freeze date the binding constraint, and a warmer pocket of your own yard is worth more to this crop than it is to a transplanted one.
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 feather top rhodes grass survives winter in part of Kansas, not across all of it. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Frost-free days
Feather Top Rhodes Grass wants 90+ frost-free days; a typical Kansas site sees ~208 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). That leaves comfortable headroom for succession planting.
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.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Feather Top Rhodes Grass likes near-neutral soil (pH 6-8.5). That's the common-ground band across Kansas's prairie loam and silt loam — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6.5 and 7.5 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Kansas soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Kansas site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Kansas soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
What Else to Consider for Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Kansas growers also need to think about:
Low rainfall in western KS requires irrigation
Extreme wind and hail during severe storm season
Hot dry summers with 100F+ days
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Kansas grower, not just feather top rhodes grass — is covered on the Kansas growing guide.
Timing shifts within Kansas
Feather Top Rhodes Grass needs about 90 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. Even Greeley County — Kansas’s shortest season at 177 frost-free days — clears that by 87 days, so season length isn’t the constraint anywhere in Kansas. What varies is your own parcel.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Feather Top Rhodes Grass's 90-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Kansas Cooperative Extension
For Kansas-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for feather top rhodes grass, the canonical source is K-State Research and Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Feather Top Rhodes Grass native to Kansas?
Yes — the USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-07-01) documents Feather Top Rhodes Grass as native to Kansas. Planting it supports the pollinators and wildlife that evolved alongside it.
Native-range data: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution records, accessed 2026-07-01.
Common Questions About Growing Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas
When can I plant Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas?
Kansas's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 1 and Apr 12, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 25 and Nov 3 (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 Feather Top Rhodes Grass grown in across Kansas?
Kansas spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-7a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Feather Top Rhodes Grass carries a range of zones 7-11, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Kansas site have?
A typical Kansas site sees ~208 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Feather Top Rhodes Grass needs 90+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Feather Top Rhodes Grass native to Kansas?
Yes — the USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-07-01) documents Feather Top Rhodes Grass as native to Kansas. Planting it supports the pollinators and wildlife that evolved alongside it.
How should I amend the soil for Feather Top Rhodes Grass in Kansas?
Feather Top Rhodes Grass prefers pH 6-8.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That sits in the common-ground band across Kansas soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Feather Top Rhodes Grass actually grow on my specific land in Kansas?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores feather top rhodes grass 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 Kansas
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores feather top rhodes grass against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Kansas feather top rhodes grass averages can't show:
We read public map data around Kansas — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Kansas feather top rhodes grass average
Explore More
Growing guides for feather top rhodes grass
Explore Kansas county by county
Kansas carries 105 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for feather top rhodes grass there:
Where else feather top rhodes grass grows
Feather Top Rhodes Grass's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Kansas 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 Kansas
Kansas has a growing page for 893 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Last updated: