The Driftless Area spans USDA hardiness zones 4b-5a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
An unglaciated landscape of steep ridges, deep valleys, and spring-fed coulees in the Upper Midwest — a stronghold of diversified small farms and cold-hardy fruit. Well-matched crops include sweet corn, tomato, pumpkin, and apple, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.
The Driftless Area spans Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its footprint follows the EPA Level III ecoregion boundary; the counties linked below are representative of the region, not an exhaustive list.
Your yard isn't the whole Driftless Area.
The Driftless Area spans USDA zones 4b-5a, but your parcel sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and low spots nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score 1,112 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Quick Facts
USDA Zones
4b-5a
States
4
Counties
26
Defined by
Ecoregion
Hardiness Zone Range
What Grows in the Driftless Area
Plants matched to the Driftless Area's USDA zones 4b-5a — each links to its full growing profile.
Native Plants Suited to the Driftless Area
US-native plants (USDA PLANTS, Lower 48) whose hardiness range overlaps the Driftless Area’s USDA zones 4b-5a. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map — for plants documented native to your county, your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the authority.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across the Driftless Area — and how to grow with it.
A growing region spans many local records, and contamination is a per-place fact — not a regional verdict. Nationwide we track 1.8M documented sites across 9 federal source types; open the map outlined to the Driftless Area to see exactly what's on record where you grow.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
Your Specific Parcel Matters
the Driftless Area Average
- ●USDA Zones 4b-5a
- ●Generic soil type for the area
- ●State-average frost dates
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact hardiness zone
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in the Driftless Area
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in the Driftless Area — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, contamination, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources analyzed in seconds
Key Growing Facts for the Driftless Area
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4b-5a (USDA PHZM 2023, aggregated across the region)
- States: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
- Counties covered: 26
- Region boundary: an EPA Level III ecoregion (an area sharing climate, soils, and vegetation)
Zone data: USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Region boundary: curated county clusters and EPA Level III ecoregions. County boundaries: US Census TIGER/Line 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zone is the Driftless Area?
The Driftless Area spans USDA hardiness zones 4b-5a, aggregated from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 across the region's counties. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 data.
What grows well in the Driftless Area?
The Driftless Area's conditions suit plants such as Sweet Corn, Tomato, Pumpkin, Apple, Coneflower, Hosta. For site-specific recommendations scored against your parcel's soil, drainage, and sun data, run the Growable Ground report for your address.
Which states does the Driftless Area cover?
The Driftless Area spans Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Each state's full growing guide is linked below.