What Grows in Louann, Arkansas

USDA Zones 8a · 152 acres

Louann, Arkansas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

The conditions favor cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Louann — the short answer

Louann, Arkansas: USDA zone 8a, about 265 days between hard freezes, across 152 acres of town.

USDA zone
8a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 28
Ouachita County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 20
Ouachita County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~265
Ouachita County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
152 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 Ouachita County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

8a8a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 8a is Louann's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Louann's 265-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Louann

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

Season length

From county records

Louann runs about 265 days between hard freezes (read from Ouachita County, the closest normal to Louann) — 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

Measured

Louann sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a.

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 Louann is in

Louann sits in the South Central Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Louann's own centroid rather than borrowed from Ouachita County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Louann

Every plant below cleared Louann's own zone 8a and its 265-day season. Each card opens that plant's Arkansas profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in ArkansasZones 2–11Louann's 8a — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Arkansas fig guideZones 6–10Louann's 8a — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in ArkansasZones 6–10Louann's 8a — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Arkansas growing notesZones 2–11Louann's 8a — 6 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Growing prickly pear in ArkansasZones 5–10Louann's 8a — 3 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Arkansas lavender guideZones 5–8Louann's 8a — 3 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in ArkansasZones 2–10Louann's 8a — 6 zones of cold margin.
grape, photograph
Grape: Arkansas growing notesZones 6–9Louann's 8a — 2 zones of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Growing rosemary in ArkansasZones 8–10Louann's 8a is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Arkansas kale guideZones 2–11Louann's 8a — 6 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut in ArkansasZones 4–9Louann's 8a — 4 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Arkansas growing notesZones 2–11Louann's 265 days clear the ~70 it needs.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in ArkansasZones 7–10Louann's 8a — 1 zone of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Arkansas okra guideZones 2–12Louann's 265 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in ArkansasZones 2–11Louann's 8a — 6 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Arkansas growing notesZones 3–10Louann's 8a — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in ArkansasZones 2–11Louann's 265 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Arkansas apache plume guideZones 5–11Louann's 8a — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in ArkansasZones 3–8Louann's 8a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Arkansas growing notesZones 3–8Louann's 8a — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in ArkansasLouann's 265 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Arkansas holly guideZones 5–11Louann's 8a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in ArkansasZones 7–10Louann's 8a — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Arkansas growing notesZones 6–8Louann's 8a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in ArkansasZones 4–10Louann's 8a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Arkansas ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Louann's 8a — 4 zones of cold margin.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in ArkansasZones 5–11Louann's 8a — 3 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: Arkansas growing notesZones 5–11Louann's 8a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in ArkansasZones 5–10Louann's 265 days clear the ~45 it needs.
blue grama, photograph
Arkansas blue grama guideZones 3–10Louann's 265 days clear the ~90 it needs.

Is it too late to plant in Louann?

For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 31; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 28 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 20 — 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 Louann

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

  1. 15S16W30DAD1Nitrate · 1200 ft
  2. 15S16W29BCA1Nitrate · 0.6 mi
  3. JIM'S GULFUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
  4. GRISSOMS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
  5. 16S17W02ABA1Nitrate · 2.4 mi
  6. COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. SOUTH AUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.1 mi
  7. REYNOLDS BUILDERSUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.6 mi
  8. HATCHER, H. F., & SONUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
  9. SMACKOVER SCHOOL BUS SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
  10. FOUR R MARKETINGToxics Release Inventory · 4.2 mi
  11. 16S16W02BAC1Nitrate · 4.2 mi
  12. SMACKOVER WAREHOUSE-CITY SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi

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

Measured from Louann'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 Louann.

Total Sites

91

within ~10 miles of Louann

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

2 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Louann

High1Moderate54Low36

Highest-Severity Sites

14s16w07cbc1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
14s16w07cbc1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
14s16w32bdc1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
14s16w32bdc1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
14s17w02dcd1
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Louann, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 42 sites within ~10 miles of Louann. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.

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).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Louann

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 Louann average

Your land is one point inside Louann

Everything above resolves to Louann as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 152 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Ouachita County’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 Louann Average

Louann Average

  • USDA Zones 8a, averaged across Louann
  • One soil character for all of Louann
  • Frost dates read at Louann's scale: Feb 28 to Nov 20

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Louann's 8a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Louann

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Louann averages 265Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Louann

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 Ouachita 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 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 Louann

When does frost risk typically end in Louann?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Louann typically lands around Feb 28, 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 21.

When is the first frost in Louann?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Louann typically arrives around Nov 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 6, so the watching starts about Oct 21 — about 265 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Louann?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Louann sees about 265 frost-free days — roughly Feb 28 through Nov 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 21 to Nov 6, about 230 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Louann?

The federal record around Louann is a meaningful one — 91 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (42), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.2 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 Louann?

From about Oct 21 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 20 (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 20. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Louann's scale — its 8a band and its 265-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Louann'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 Louann’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Louann's own scale — the 152 acres it covers and 91 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Louann's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 91 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Louann, the closest Nitrate record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Louann's boundary and the 152 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8a and a ~265-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Louann's own centroid, the South Central PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Louann has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Ouachita County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Louann's 152 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Ouachita County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Ouachita 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 Ouachita County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Louann's 152 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Louann you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 152 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.2 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 Louann-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address