Generally — Most Areas
tarragon (zones 4-8) suits most of North Dakota (3b-4b) — zone 4 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
Tarragon in North Dakota — the short answer
Tarragon in North Dakota: hardy in zones 4–8, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 4-8
- Not verified — NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists zones 3a–8b
- North Dakota zones
- 3b-4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 30 - May 6 – Oct 4 - Oct 9
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 141 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 60 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
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.
North Dakota spans zones 3b-4b, 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 tarragon 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
North Dakota is not one climate
North Dakota’s winter-low ladder runs across 53 counties, from zone 3.5 in Bottineau County to zone 4.5 in Stutsman County. That is 10°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between tarragon overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 53 counties runs 4–4 zones, with a median of 4 zones — a 1-zone span end to end.
Measured across 53 North Dakota 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 in North Dakota Fits Best
Tarragon is rated for zones 4–8 — a cold floor USDA puts at -30 to -20°F. Against North Dakota’s 53 counties that band holds in 47 of them, and the line runs at Barnes County (zone 4a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 4–8
47 counties
- Benson County · zone 4a
- Billings County · zone 4a
- Burke County · zone 4a
3 of 47 shown
Below the zone 4 floor
6 counties
- Bottineau County · zone 3b
- Cavalier County · zone 3b
- Divide County · zone 3b
3 of 6 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 North Dakota's zones 3b-4b, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for tarragon (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Tarragon Needs
- USDA Zones: 4-8
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 2 ft tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Picking window: ~120 days of harvestWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Drought tolerance: MediumWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
North Dakota Has
- USDA Zones: 3b-4b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 30 - May 6
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 4 - Oct 9
- Annual Rainfall: 14-22 inches
- Common Soils: Prairie loam, Clay (Red River Valley), Sandy loam
Plant Zone Range (zones 4-8)
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 Tarragon in North Dakota
The frost window
Across North Dakota, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 30 and May 6, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 4 and Oct 9 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 151-day window you can count on — up to 162 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
North Dakota runs as cold as USDA zone 3, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for tarragon, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether tarragon is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within North Dakota; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
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 tarragon survives winter in part of North Dakota, not across all of it. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Growing degree days
Tarragon needs ~1000 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. The state median runs ~1913 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so North Dakota's typical season clears that easily.
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
Tarragon likes near-neutral soil (pH 4.9-7.5). That's the common-ground band across North Dakota's prairie loam and clay (red river valley) — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 5.5 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a North Dakota soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your North Dakota site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost.
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. North Dakota soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant 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 tarragon goes in. What follows is North Dakota’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 North Dakota — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across North Dakota — 4,130 documented sites across 5 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 22 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
North Dakota 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 of imported, lab-tested soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across North Dakota
Severity Distribution
across North Dakota
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around North Dakota, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 345 sites across North Dakota. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties that EPA’s Brownfields program (ACRES) has assessed or funded cleanup on.
Contact the EPA Brownfields program or the state cleanup agency for this site’s actual assessment/remediation status — ACRES itself does not publish one we can read per site.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 950K documented sites tracked nationwide across 8 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Tarragon in North Dakota
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but North Dakota growers also need to think about:
Extreme cold (-40F) and short growing season
Persistent wind desiccates plants
Low rainfall in western ND
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every North Dakota grower, not just tarragon — is covered on the North Dakota growing guide.
Where in North Dakota Tarragon Is Zone-Hardy
Tarragon is rated for USDA zones 4–8. 47 of North Dakota’s 53 counties fall inside that band. The coldest that does is Barnes County at zone 4a. 6 counties sit below the plant’s zone 4 floor, where an unprotected plant is relying on snow cover and a mild year. Where you are in North Dakota decides this one.
Across those 53 counties North Dakota’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 3b in Bottineau County to zone 4b in Stutsman County — 1 USDA zone of spread, which is 10°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. Bottineau County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about May 9, while Richland County is clear by Apr 23 — 16 days apart. Set 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". Tarragon’s zone 4–8 band: Not verified — NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists zones 3a–8b. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Deer pressure is meaningful across much of North Dakota; tarragon is listed as deer-resistant (NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), which makes it a safer pick for unfenced sites. Our deer & wildlife guide carries the full deer-resistant list and how to protect the rest.
North Dakota Cooperative Extension
For North Dakota-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for tarragon, the canonical source is NDSU Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Tarragon native to North Dakota?
The USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-10-19) lists Tarragon as native to the Lower 48 and records it growing in North Dakota, but it does not say whether those North Dakota plants are native or introduced. Your state's native plant society or Cooperative Extension can tell you whether it is part of the local flora.
State records: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution data (presence, not state-level nativity), accessed 2026-10-19.
Common Questions About Growing Tarragon in North Dakota
When can I plant Tarragon in North Dakota?
North Dakota's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 30 and May 6, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 4 and Oct 9 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Tarragon, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in North Dakota 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 Tarragon grown in across North Dakota?
North Dakota spans USDA hardiness zones 3b-4b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Tarragon carries a range of zones 4-8, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical North Dakota site have?
A typical North Dakota site sees ~157 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Tarragon needs 120+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Tarragon native to North Dakota?
The USDA PLANTS Database (accessed 2026-10-19) lists Tarragon as native to the Lower 48 and records it growing in North Dakota, but it does not say whether those North Dakota plants are native or introduced. Your state's native plant society or Cooperative Extension can tell you whether it is part of the local flora.
How should I amend the soil for Tarragon in North Dakota?
Tarragon prefers pH 4.9-7.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That sits in the common-ground band across North Dakota soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Tarragon actually grow on my specific land in North Dakota?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores tarragon 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 North Dakota
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores tarragon against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that North Dakota tarragon averages can't show:
We read public map data around North Dakota — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the North Dakota tarragon average
Explore More
Growing guides for tarragon
Explore North Dakota county by county
North Dakota carries 53 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for tarragon there:
Where else tarragon grows
Tarragon's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to North Dakota 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 North Dakota
North Dakota has a growing page for 745 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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