Generally — Most Areas
French tarragon (zones 3-7) suits most of Arkansas (6b-8b) — zones 6-7 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
French Tarragon in Arkansas — the short answer
French Tarragon in Arkansas: hardy in zones 3–7, against a state median of ~254 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 3-7
- 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
- Arkansas zones
- 6b-8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Mar 2 - Mar 20 – Nov 15 - Nov 23
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 226 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.
Arkansas spans zones 6b-8b, 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 french tarragon 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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Arkansas is not one climate
A single Arkansas answer averages 75 counties whose growing seasons are 58 days apart — from 226 frost-free days in Benton County to 284 in Lincoln County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what french tarragon can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 75 counties runs 241–266 days, with a median of 254 days — a 58-day span end to end.
Measured across 75 Arkansas 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 Arkansas Fits Best
French Tarragon is rated for zones 3–7 — a cold floor USDA puts at -40 to -30°F. Against Arkansas’s 75 counties that band holds in 6 of them, and the line runs at Benton County (zone 7a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 3–7
6 counties
- Carroll County · zone 7a
- Fulton County · zone 7a
- Searcy County · zone 7a
3 of 6 shown
Above the zone 7 ceiling
69 counties
- Baxter County · zone 7b
- Boone County · zone 7b
- Clay County · zone 7b
3 of 69 shown
Too little winter chill rather than too much cold — a low-chill selection is what changes it.
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 Arkansas's zones 6b-8b, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for french tarragon (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
French Tarragon Needs
- USDA Zones: 3-7
- Picking window: ~90 days of harvest
Arkansas Has
- USDA Zones: 6b-8b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Mar 2 - Mar 20
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 15 - Nov 23
- Annual Rainfall: 44-56 inches
- Common Soils: Silt loam, Sandy loam, Red clay
Plant Zone Range (zones 3-7)
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 French Tarragon in Arkansas
The frost window
Across Arkansas, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 2 and Mar 20, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 23 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 240-day window you can count on — up to 266 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.
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.
Before you plant french tarragon 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 french tarragon goes in. What follows is Arkansas’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 Arkansas — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Arkansas — 21,012 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 88 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Arkansas 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 Arkansas
Severity Distribution
across Arkansas
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Arkansas, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 5,938 sites across Arkansas. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for French Tarragon in Arkansas
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Arkansas growers also need to think about:
Hot, humid summers drive fungal and bacterial diseases
Heavy clay soils in parts of the Ozarks
Severe spring storms and hail risk
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Arkansas grower, not just french tarragon — is covered on the Arkansas growing guide.
Where in Arkansas French Tarragon Is Zone-Hardy
French Tarragon is rated for USDA zones 3–7. 6 of Arkansas’s 75 counties fall inside that band. The coldest that does is Benton County at zone 7a. 69 counties sit above its zone 7 ceiling, where the limit is too little winter chill rather than too much cold. Where you are in Arkansas decides this one.
Across those 75 counties Arkansas’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 7a in Benton County to zone 8b in Union County — 1.5 USDA zones of spread, which is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. That is why a statewide hardiness answer is where you start and not where you finish.
The planting window moves with it. Carroll County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about Mar 26, while Chicot County is clear by Feb 19 — 35 days apart. Set french tarragon out on your county’s date, not the state’s.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F killing freeze — earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost". French Tarragon’s zone 3–7 band: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Arkansas Cooperative Extension
For Arkansas-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for french tarragon, the canonical source is University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing French Tarragon in Arkansas
When can I plant French Tarragon in Arkansas?
Arkansas's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 2 and Mar 20, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 23 (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 French Tarragon grown in across Arkansas?
Arkansas spans USDA hardiness zones 6b-8b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). French Tarragon carries a range of zones 3-7, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Arkansas site have?
A typical Arkansas site sees ~254 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). French Tarragon 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.
Will French Tarragon actually grow on my specific land in Arkansas?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores french tarragon 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 Arkansas
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores french tarragon against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Arkansas french tarragon averages can't show:
We read public map data around Arkansas — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Arkansas french tarragon average
Explore More
Growing guides for french tarragon
Explore Arkansas county by county
Arkansas carries 75 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for french tarragon there:
Where else french tarragon grows
French Tarragon's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Arkansas 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 Arkansas
Arkansas has a growing page for 1,020 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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