Conditional — Some Areas
live oak (zones 8-10) reaches only part of Missouri (5b-8a): zone 8 are in range, so where you are in the state decides it.
One zone short — what would close it
Live Oak is hardy to zone 8, and the warmest ground in Missouri is zone 7 — 1 zone short. Planted in open ground it will not survive a Missouri winter. To grow it here, grow live oak 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 8-10 (plant) against 5-7 (Missouri). Lift modeled by crop_engine.GREENHOUSE_ZONE_MODIFIER_BY_SUBTYPE['hoop_house'] (+1.5 zones) via api/fast_sections.py Unlock Engine v2.
Live Oak in Missouri — the short answer
Live Oak in Missouri: hardy in zones 8–10, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 8-10
- Rated hardy to zone 8a by NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (read 2026-10-05).
- Missouri zones
- 5b-8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Mar 27 - Apr 2 – Oct 31 - Nov 7
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 192 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.
Missouri spans zones 5b-8a, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score live oak against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your parcel report in seconds — read in full free for your first 14 days
Missouri is not one climate
Missouri’s winter-low ladder runs across 115 counties, from zone 5.5 in Atchison County to zone 7.5 in Pemiscot County. That is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between live oak overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 115 counties runs 6–7 zones, with a median of 6.5 zones — a 2-zone span end to end.
Measured across 115 Missouri counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. 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 Live Oak Stands in Missouri
Live Oak is rated for zones 8–10 — a cold floor USDA puts at 10 to 20°F. No Missouri 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 Missouri winters, not about live oak.
Below the zone 8 floor
115 counties
- Atchison County · zone 5b
- Harrison County · zone 5b
- Nodaway County · zone 5b
3 of 115 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
Live Oak Needs
- USDA Zones: 8-10
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 50 ft tall
- Drought tolerance: Medium
Missouri Has
- USDA Zones: 5b-8a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Mar 27 - Apr 2
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 31 - Nov 7
- Annual Rainfall: 34-50 inches
- Common Soils: Silt loam, Clay loam, Loess
Plant Zone Range (zones 8-10)
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 Live Oak in Missouri
The frost window
Across Missouri, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 27 and Apr 2, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 31 and Nov 7 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 212-day window you can count on — up to 225 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.
Winter standing
Missouri runs as cold as USDA zone 5, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for live oak, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether live oak is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Missouri; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Crawford 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 live oak survives winter in part of Missouri, not across all of it. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Chill hours
Live Oak requires ~100 chill hours (32-45°F dormancy window). Missouri typically banks ~2500 chill hours per winter (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), which keeps this plant on track.
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
Live Oak likes near-neutral soil (pH 5.5-7.5). That's the common-ground band across Missouri's silt loam and clay loam — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Missouri soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells), excessive (dry/moderately dry). If your Missouri site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost.
Your land, not the state average
SSURGO maps about 31.8% of Missouri as poorly or somewhat-poorly drained, and the class flips parcel to parcel. Live Oak sits mid-range for drought tolerance, so either extreme can cost you — your soil map unit, not the state average, is the real answer.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO.
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. Missouri soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
What Else to Consider for Live Oak in Missouri
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Missouri growers also need to think about:
Highly variable weather with late frosts and early heat
Heavy clay soils in many regions
Ozark soils are thin and rocky
Growing live oak here specifically
Live Oak roots run medium and prefer pH 5.5–7.5, but drainage comes first here: SSURGO maps about 31.8% of Missouri as poorly or somewhat-poorly drained, and wet ground rots its crown before pH ever matters.
Plant live oak on a raised, gravel-amended berm so water drains fast and the crown stays dry. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Missouri grower, not just live oak — is covered on the Missouri growing guide.
Timing shifts within Missouri
Missouri isn't one climate. In Crawford County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about Apr 10 — roughly 12 days later than the recorded state median — so plant live oak 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 Missouri Live Oak Is Zone-Hardy
Live Oak is rated for USDA zones 8–10. No Missouri county reaches it. Even Pemiscot County, the state’s mildest winter at zone 7b, sits below the plant’s zone 8 floor — so in open ground this one needs winter protection here, or a container that comes under cover.
Across those 115 counties Missouri’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 5b in Atchison County to zone 7b in Pemiscot 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 live oak needs, so here the statewide answer really is the answer.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. Live Oak’s zone 8–10 band: Rated hardy to zone 8a by NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (read 2026-10-05).. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Missouri Cooperative Extension
For Missouri-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for live oak, the canonical source is MU Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Live Oak native to Missouri?
Live Oak is native to parts of the Lower 48, but the USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-10-19) does not record it growing in Missouri. It can still earn a place in a Missouri garden — the zone comparison above tells you whether it will thrive.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Missouri growing guide lists plants that USDA PLANTS records growing in Missouri and that Kew and NatureServe Explorer both list in its native range, leaving out any that NatureServe flags as exotic there or that our audit holds.
State records: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution data (presence, not state-level nativity), accessed 2026-10-19.
Common Questions About Growing Live Oak in Missouri
When can I plant Live Oak in Missouri?
Missouri's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 27 and Apr 2, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 31 and Nov 7 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Live Oak, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Missouri and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Live Oak grown in across Missouri?
Missouri spans USDA hardiness zones 5b-8a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Live Oak carries a range of zones 8-10, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Missouri site have?
A typical Missouri site sees ~219 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Live Oak needs 150+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Crawford, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
Is Live Oak native to Missouri?
Live Oak is native to parts of the Lower 48, but the USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-10-19) does not record it growing in Missouri. It can still earn a place in a Missouri garden — the zone comparison above tells you whether it will thrive.
How should I amend the soil for Live Oak in Missouri?
Live Oak prefers pH 5.5-7.5 and well (dry spells), excessive (dry/moderately dry) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That sits in the common-ground band across Missouri soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Live Oak actually grow on my specific land in Missouri?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores live oak against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Missouri
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores live oak against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Missouri live oak averages can't show:
We read public map data around Missouri — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Missouri live oak average
Explore More
Growing guides for live oak
Explore Missouri county by county
Missouri carries 115 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for live oak there:
Where else live oak grows
Live Oak's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Missouri 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 Missouri
Missouri has a growing page for 890 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
Last updated: