What Grows in Highfill, Arkansas

USDA Zones 7a · 12K acres

Highfill, Arkansas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

These conditions suit cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Highfill, 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 Highfill 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 Highfill — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Highfill — the short answer

Highfill, Arkansas: USDA zone 7a, about 229 days between hard freezes, across 12K acres of town.

USDA zone
7a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 25
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 9
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~229
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
12K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

7a7a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7a is Highfill's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Highfill's 229-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Highfill

Each reading below is measured for Highfill itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Highfill runs about 229 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Highfill sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.

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 Highfill is in

Highfill sits in the Ozark Highlands — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Highfill's own centroid rather than borrowed from Benton County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Highfill

Every plant below cleared Highfill's own zone 7a and its 229-day season. Each card opens that plant's Arkansas profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in ArkansasZones 2–11Highfill's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Arkansas hazelnut guideZones 4–9Highfill's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in ArkansasZones 6–10Highfill's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Arkansas growing notesZones 2–11Highfill's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in ArkansasZones 5–9Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Arkansas lavender guideZones 5–8Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in ArkansasZones 2–10Highfill's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pecan, photograph
Pecan: Arkansas growing notesZones 5–9Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in ArkansasHighfill's 229 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Arkansas kale guideZones 2–11Highfill's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in ArkansasZones 5–10Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Arkansas growing notesZones 2–11Highfill's 229 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Growing apple in ArkansasZones 3–8Highfill's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Arkansas okra guideZones 2–12Highfill's 229 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in ArkansasZones 2–11Highfill's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Arkansas growing notesZones 3–10Highfill's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in ArkansasZones 2–11Highfill's 229 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Arkansas apache plume guideZones 5–11Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in ArkansasZones 3–8Highfill's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Arkansas growing notesZones 3–8Highfill's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in ArkansasHighfill's 229 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Arkansas holly guideZones 5–11Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in ArkansasZones 3–9Highfill's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Arkansas growing notesZones 6–8Highfill's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in ArkansasZones 3–9Highfill's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Arkansas ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Highfill's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in ArkansasZones 2–7Highfill's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Arkansas growing notesZones 4–10Highfill's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in ArkansasZones 5–10Highfill's 229 days clear the ~45 it needs.
Eastern gamagrass, photograph
Arkansas eastern gamagrass guideZones 5–9Highfill's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Highfill?

For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 25; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 25 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 9 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. There is slack in a calendar like this — late plantings, second rounds of favorites, and a fall bench that keeps beds working.

What's on the federal record near Highfill

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Highfill. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. 19N31W31BDC1Nitrate · 2300 ft
  2. 18N32WS01AAB1Nitrate · 0.7 mi
  3. ENVOY AIR INC , AVIATION GROUPBrownfields · 1.3 mi
  4. TYSON FOODS/AVIATION COMPLEXBrownfields · 1.4 mi
  5. DAL GLOBAL SERVICES, LLC- XNABrownfields · 1.5 mi
  6. NORTHWEST ARKANSAS REGIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY - NORTHWEST ARKANSAS NATIONAL AIRPBrownfields · 1.5 mi
  7. KING AEROSPACE - ARKBrownfields · 1.5 mi
  8. HIGHFILL MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
  9. 19N32W34CAB1Nitrate · 3.2 mi
  10. 19N32W27CDC1Nitrate · 3.2 mi
  11. 18N32W10BAA1Nitrate · 3.2 mi
  12. AIRPORT PLAZAUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.2 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Highfill'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 Highfill.

Total Sites

354

within ~10 miles of Highfill

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

15 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Highfill

High2Moderate176Low176

Highest-Severity Sites

Decatur Waterworks
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Unknown - Zn/Pb
Mining Sites · Past Producer
18n30w10bdd1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Highfill, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Highfill — PFAS (3 sites) and Nitrate (94 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.

PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Highfill

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 Highfill average

Your land is one point inside Highfill

Everything above resolves to Highfill as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 12K acres. 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 Highfill Average

Highfill Average

  • USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Highfill
  • One soil character for all of Highfill
  • Frost dates read at Highfill's scale: Mar 25 to Nov 9

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Highfill's 7a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Highfill

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Highfill, Arkansas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Highfill averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Highfill averages 229Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Highfill — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Highfill average

How we know this about Highfill

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 Highfill’s own record; 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 Highfill

When does frost risk typically end in Highfill?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Highfill typically lands around Mar 25, 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 Apr 15.

When is the first frost in Highfill?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Highfill typically arrives around Nov 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 26, so the watching starts about Oct 10 — about 229 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Highfill?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Highfill sees about 229 frost-free days — roughly Mar 25 through Nov 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 15 to Oct 26, about 194 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Highfill?

The federal record around Highfill is a meaningful one — 354 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (154), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.4 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 Highfill?

From about Oct 10 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 9 (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 9. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Highfill's scale — its 7a band and its 229-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Highfill'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 Highfill’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Highfill's own scale — its own ~229-day season between 28°F freezes, the 11,603 acres it covers and 354 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Highfill's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Highfill's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 25 and Nov 9 and the ~229-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 354 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Highfill, the closest Nitrate record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Highfill's boundary and the 11,603 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~229-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Highfill's own centroid, the Ozark HighlandsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Highfill's 11,603 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Benton County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Benton 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 Benton County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Highfill's 11,603 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Highfill you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 11,603 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.4 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 Highfill-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address