Gulkana, Alaska, sits in USDA hardiness zone 2b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
On paper, cabbage, potato, rhubarb, and kale all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Gulkana, no two yards are alike.
A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Gulkana lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Gulkana — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Gulkana — the short answer
Gulkana, Alaska: USDA zone 2b, about 109 days between hard freezes, across 22K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 2b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 21
- Copper River Census Area normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Sep 7
- Copper River Census Area normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~109
- Copper River Census Area normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 22K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Copper River Census Area’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 2b is Gulkana's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Gulkana's 109-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Gulkana
Each reading below is measured for Gulkana itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsGulkana runs about 109 days between hard freezes (read from Copper River Census Area, the closest normal to Gulkana) — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredGulkana sits in USDA hardiness zone 2b.
The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.
Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.
USDA PHZM 2023
What Grows in Gulkana
Plants matched to Gulkana's USDA zones 2b, ordered by how much hardiness margin each has here — the ones with room to spare at both ends of this town's band lead. Each links to its full growing profile.
Is it too late to plant in Gulkana?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 21 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Sep 7 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. When the window is tight, the fall moves are quick ones — baby greens, radishes, and garlic set for next season.
What's on the federal record near Gulkana
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Gulkana. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- ADEC GLENNALLEN LDFLBrownfields · 2.8 mi
- Eagle AirmotiveUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- Tazlina River Trading PostUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- ADOTPF - Paxson Maintenance StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- ADOTPF - Tazlina Maintenance StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- CB00400105BCDD1 001Nitrate · 4.0 mi
- CB00400105BCCD1 002Nitrate · 4.0 mi
- GULKANA AIRPORTSuperfund · 4.1 mi
- Glennallen StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.3 mi
- CB00600123ACAC2 002Nitrate · 5.8 mi
- Valdez - Cooper River HeliportUnderground Storage Tanks · 6.7 mi
- CB00400119ACBA2 004Nitrate · 6.9 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Gulkana's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Gulkana.
Total Sites
51
within ~10 miles of Gulkana
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Gulkana
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Gulkana
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Gulkana, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 30 sites within ~10 miles of Gulkana. 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).
Check your specific parcel in Gulkana
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Gulkana average
Your land is one point inside Gulkana
Everything above resolves to Gulkana as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 22K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Copper River Census Area’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at town scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.
Your Lot vs the Gulkana Average
Gulkana Average
- ●USDA Zones 2b, averaged across Gulkana
- ●One soil character for all of Gulkana
- ●Frost dates read at Gulkana's scale: May 21 to Sep 7
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Gulkana's 2b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Gulkana
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Gulkana, Alaska — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Gulkana averages can't show:
We read public map data around Gulkana — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Gulkana average
How we know this about Gulkana
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Copper River Census Area’s record, because none resolves here; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.
Common questions about Gulkana
When does frost risk typically end in Gulkana?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Gulkana typically lands around May 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Jun 11.
When is the first frost in Gulkana?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Gulkana typically arrives around Sep 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Aug 24, so the watching starts about Aug 8 — about 109 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Gulkana?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Gulkana sees about 109 frost-free days — roughly May 21 through Sep 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 11 to Aug 24, about 74 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Gulkana?
The federal record around Gulkana is a meaningful one — 51 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (30), the nearest Brownfields record about 2.8 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.
How do gardeners stretch the season in Gulkana?
With about 109 frost-free days between hard freezes, Gulkana rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 137 to 165 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 21 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Gulkana's scale — its 2b band and its 109-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Gulkana's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
What this page reads at Gulkana’s own scale
3 of the readings below were taken at Gulkana's own scale — the 22,326 acres it covers and 51 documented sites around it; 6 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Gulkana's own USDA hardiness band, zones 2bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 51 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Gulkana, the closest Brownfields record about 2.8 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Gulkana's boundary and the 22,326 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Gulkana has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Copper River Census Area
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Gulkana's 22,326 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Copper River County
- The candidate plant list — Alaska's curated set, filtered to this zone band and re-ordered by how much margin each has herefrom Alaska
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Copper River County
- The growing challenges every Alaska grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Alaska
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Copper River County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Gulkana's 22,326 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Gulkana you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 22,326 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 2.8 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Gulkana-wide figureread your own land →
More in Alaska
Wider growing context
What grows across AlaskaGulkana sits outside our named growing regions, so Alaska as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides