Altheimer, Arkansas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
These conditions suit cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Altheimer, 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 Altheimer 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 Altheimer — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Altheimer — the short answer
Altheimer, Arkansas: USDA zone 8b, about 279 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 23
- Jefferson County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 29
- Jefferson County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~279
- Jefferson County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- City area
- 1K 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 Jefferson County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Altheimer's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Altheimer's 279-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Altheimer
Each reading below is measured for Altheimer itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsAltheimer runs about 279 days between hard freezes (read from Jefferson County, the closest normal to Altheimer) — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredAltheimer sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
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
The kind of country Altheimer is in
Altheimer sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Altheimer's own centroid rather than borrowed from Jefferson County.
What Grows in Altheimer
Every plant below cleared Altheimer's own zone 8b and its 279-day season. Each card opens that plant's Arkansas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Altheimer?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 26; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the calendar nearly circles: cool-season crops take the winter shift, and the next window is always close.
What's on the federal record near Altheimer
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Altheimer. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- ALTHEIMER EXXONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- ALTHEIMER PROPERTY-LAKE DICK TUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- ALTHEIMER SERVICE STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- 04S08W35BBD1Nitrate · 0.6 mi
- MR PETROLEUM LLC #102Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- LOCK & DAM #3Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- BRADLEY'S GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- DEAN-HENDERSON EQUIPMENT COBrownfields · 1.3 mi
- MR PETROLEUMUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- B & B FARMSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- CORNERSTONE FARM & GIN COMPANYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.7 mi
- 04S07W18BCC2Nitrate · 2.9 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Altheimer'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 Altheimer.
Total Sites
103
within ~10 miles of Altheimer
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Altheimer
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Altheimer
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Altheimer, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Altheimer — Nitrate (42 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (7 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Altheimer
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 Altheimer average
Your land is one point inside Altheimer
Everything above resolves to Altheimer as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 1K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Jefferson County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this city’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 city 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 Altheimer Average
Altheimer Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Altheimer
- ●One soil character for all of Altheimer
- ●Frost dates read at Altheimer's scale: Feb 23 to Nov 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Altheimer's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Altheimer
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Altheimer, Arkansas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Altheimer averages can't show:
We read public map data around Altheimer — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Altheimer average
How we know this about Altheimer
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Jefferson County’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 city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-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 Altheimer
When does frost risk typically end in Altheimer?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Altheimer typically lands around Feb 23, 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 Mar 16.
When is the first frost in Altheimer?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Altheimer typically arrives around Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 15, so the watching starts about Oct 30 — about 279 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Altheimer?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Altheimer sees about 279 frost-free days — roughly Feb 23 through Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 16 to Nov 15, about 244 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Altheimer?
The federal record around Altheimer is a meaningful one — 103 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (42), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 I protect my plants from frost in Altheimer?
From about Oct 30 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 29 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 29. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Altheimer's scale — its 8b band and its 279-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Altheimer'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 Altheimer’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Altheimer's own scale — the 1,312 acres it covers and 103 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Altheimer's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 103 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Altheimer, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Altheimer's boundary and the 1,312 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~279-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Altheimer's own centroid, the Mississippi Alluvial PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Altheimer has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Jefferson County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Altheimer's 1,312 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Jefferson County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Jefferson County
- The growing challenges every Arkansas grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Arkansas
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Jefferson County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Altheimer's 1,312 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Altheimer you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,312 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Altheimer-wide figureread your own land →
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