Waldo, Arkansas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — 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.
Even in Waldo, 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 Waldo 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 Waldo — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Waldo — the short answer
Waldo, Arkansas: USDA zone 8b, about 267 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 28
- Columbia County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 22
- Columbia County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~267
- Columbia 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 Columbia County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Waldo's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Waldo's 267-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Waldo
Each reading below is measured for Waldo itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsWaldo runs about 267 days between hard freezes (read from Columbia County, the closest normal to Waldo) — 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
MeasuredWaldo 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 Waldo is in
Waldo sits in the South Central Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Waldo's own centroid rather than borrowed from Columbia County.
What Grows in Waldo
Every plant below cleared Waldo's own zone 8b and its 267-day season. Each card opens that plant's Arkansas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Waldo?
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 22 — 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 Waldo
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Waldo. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- DANIEL B'SUnderground Storage Tanks · 100 ft
- K & R AUTOMOTIVEUnderground Storage Tanks · 250 ft
- PHILLIPS EXXONUnderground Storage Tanks · 450 ft
- EZ MART #4210Underground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
- DIXIE MART #6Underground Storage Tanks · 600 ft
- SUE'S GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- WALDO SIGNALUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- WALDO ONE STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- MRS. FRANK LEWISUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- WALDO, CITY OFUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- RAY WILLIAMS AUTOUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- WALDO PUBLIC SCHOOLUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Waldo'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 Waldo.
Total Sites
221
within ~10 miles of Waldo
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
13 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Waldo
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Waldo
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Waldo, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 138 sites within ~10 miles of Waldo. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Waldo
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 Waldo average
Your land is one point inside Waldo
Everything above resolves to Waldo as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 1K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Columbia 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 Waldo Average
Waldo Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Waldo
- ●One soil character for all of Waldo
- ●Frost dates read at Waldo's scale: Feb 28 to Nov 22
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Waldo's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Waldo
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Waldo, Arkansas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Waldo averages can't show:
We read public map data around Waldo — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Waldo average
How we know this about Waldo
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 Columbia 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 Waldo
When does frost risk typically end in Waldo?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Waldo 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 Waldo?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Waldo typically arrives around Nov 22, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 8, so the watching starts about Oct 23 — about 267 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Waldo?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Waldo sees about 267 frost-free days — roughly Feb 28 through Nov 22, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 21 to Nov 8, about 232 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Waldo?
The federal record around Waldo is a meaningful one — 221 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (138), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 Waldo?
From about Oct 23 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 22 (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 22. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Waldo's scale — its 8b band and its 267-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Waldo'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 Waldo’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Waldo's own scale — the 1,404 acres it covers and 221 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Waldo's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 221 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Waldo, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Waldo's boundary and the 1,404 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~267-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Waldo's own centroid, the South Central PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Waldo has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Columbia County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Waldo's 1,404 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Columbia County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Columbia 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 Columbia County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Waldo's 1,404 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Waldo you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,404 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 Waldo-wide figureread your own land →