North Little Rock, Arkansas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Crops well matched to these conditions include cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in North Little Rock, 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 North Little Rock 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 North Little Rock — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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North Little Rock — the short answer
North Little Rock, Arkansas: USDA zone 8a, about 276 days between hard freezes, across 34K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 27
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 30
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~276
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- City area
- 34K 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
Zone 8a is North Little Rock's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against North Little Rock's 276-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in North Little Rock
Each reading below is measured for North Little Rock itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredNorth Little Rock runs about 276 days between hard freezes — 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
MeasuredNorth Little Rock 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 North Little Rock is in
North Little Rock sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at North Little Rock's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Pulaski County is mostly Ouachita Mountains. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.
What Grows in North Little Rock
Every plant below cleared North Little Rock's own zone 8a and its 276-day season. Each card opens that plant's Arkansas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in North Little Rock?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 30; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 27 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 30 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.
What's on the federal record near North Little Rock
Closest first, within ~10 miles of North Little Rock. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- MONTGOMERY PUMP STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- 02N12W36DCA1Nitrate · 0.7 mi
- TARGET STORE #T0162Brownfields · 0.7 mi
- SEARS ROEBUCK & COUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- SEARS 1206/6107Brownfields · 0.7 mi
- FIRESTONE STORE 44Y6Brownfields · 0.7 mi
- BAPTIST HEALTH MED CTR NORTHUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- MELTON TRUCK LINES, INC.Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- FIRESTONE STORE #43F2 / 029580Underground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- CARTI CANCER CENTERBrownfields · 0.9 mi
- CVS PHARMACY #ARNOR1B01Brownfields · 0.9 mi
- BIG LOTS 5131Brownfields · 0.9 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from North Little Rock'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 North Little Rock.
Total Sites
1,649
within ~10 miles of North Little Rock
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
9 Superfund sites
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of North Little Rock
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of North Little Rock
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around North Little Rock, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of North Little Rock — Underground Storage Tanks (1,100 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (101 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in North Little Rock
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 North Little Rock average
Your land is one point inside North Little Rock
Everything above resolves to North Little Rock as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 34K 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 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 North Little Rock Average
North Little Rock Average
- ●USDA Zones 8a, averaged across North Little Rock
- ●One soil character for all of North Little Rock
- ●Frost dates read at North Little Rock's scale: Feb 27 to Nov 30
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not North Little Rock's 8a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in North Little Rock
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in North Little Rock, Arkansas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that North Little Rock averages can't show:
We read public map data around North Little Rock — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the North Little Rock average
How we know this about North Little Rock
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 North Little Rock’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 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 North Little Rock
When does frost risk typically end in North Little Rock?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in North Little Rock typically lands around Feb 27, 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 20.
When is the first frost in North Little Rock?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in North Little Rock typically arrives around Nov 30, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 16, so the watching starts about Oct 31 — about 276 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in North Little Rock?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, North Little Rock sees about 276 frost-free days — roughly Feb 27 through Nov 30, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 20 to Nov 16, about 241 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in North Little Rock?
The federal record around North Little Rock is a meaningful one — 1,649 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (1,100), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 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 North Little Rock?
From about Oct 31 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 30 (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 30. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at North Little Rock's scale — its 8a band and its 276-day season. Your yard writes its own version of North Little Rock'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 North Little Rock’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at North Little Rock's own scale — its own ~276-day season between 28°F freezes, the 33,949 acres it covers and 1,649 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- North Little Rock's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8aUSDA PHZM 2023
- North Little Rock's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Feb 27 and Nov 30 and the ~276-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 1,649 documented contamination sites on the federal record near North Little Rock, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- North Little Rock's boundary and the 33,949 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8a and a ~276-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- North Little Rock sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so North Little Rock's 33,949 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Pulaski County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Pulaski 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 Pulaski County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among North Little Rock's 33,949 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of North Little Rock you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 33,949 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 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 North Little Rock-wide figureread your own land →
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