Florida spans USDA hardiness zones 8a-11b, with a growing season of about 320 frost-free days — a calendar that barely closes, trading frost worries for heat management and near-continuous harvests.
Behind the zone label sits the real climate engine: 50-65 inches of annual rainfall, a median of roughly 6,150 growing-degree days (base 50°F), and about 225 winter chill hours for tree fruit. Most ground here falls among sandy, muck (Everglades), shell-rock (Keys), and marl, whose drainage habits quietly decide which beds flourish. No single calendar covers Florida: Gulf Coast, Florida Panhandle, and Florida Keys each open and close their seasons on their own schedule. Expect mango, tomato, orange, and sweet potato to be strong candidates here; the deciding factors on any one parcel stay local — soil, sun, and drainage.
Grounded inUSDA PHZM 2023•NOAA Climate Normals•USDA NRCS SSURGO•GDD aggregate (Cornell CALS)•Chill-hour aggregate (MSU Extension)•USDA hardiness sub-region map•EPA FRS•USDA PLANTS•Growable Ground suitability scoring
Florida spans zones 8a-11b, but your yard 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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Distinct growing regions within Florida — each has its own zones, soils, and signature crops.
USDA Zones
8a-11b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last Frost
Jan 1 - Mar 15
NOAA 30-yr Normals
First Frost
Nov 15 - never (south FL)
NOAA 30-yr Normals
Annual Rainfall
50-65 inches
NOAA Climate Normals
Zone maps are averages across Florida. Your yard's slope, trees, and frost pockets shift what actually grows — see your land's exact reading.
The soil types that dominate Florida — how each drains decides more about crop success than almost anything else. Tap any soil to learn what it is and how to work with it.
Drainage
Very fast. Water passes through in hours, not days, taking dissolved nutrients along with it.
What thrives
Carrots, radishes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes size up beautifully; melons, watermelon, and herbs like rosemary and thyme love the warmth and the dry feet. Many natives and drought-adapted perennials prefer it outright.
Drainage
It holds water like a sponge by nature; farmed muck is managed with ditches and water control, and it can dry, shrink, and even blow when left bare.
What thrives
Muck is celebrated vegetable ground — onions, celery, carrots, lettuce, and greens grow to prize quality in it. Its loose, black tilth is what root and leaf crops dream of.
Drainage
Instant. Water disappears into the porous rock, and the lime chemistry keeps everything alkaline.
What thrives
Tropical trees famously root right into it — coconut palm, sea grape, gumbo limbo, key lime and other citrus on tolerant rootstocks — finding water in the rock’s own pores.
No verified open-license photo yet — a soft, pale, lime-rich clay.
Drainage
Slow. Marl compacts easily and holds water, and its carbonate chemistry keeps the pH firmly alkaline.
What thrives
Lime-loving plants take to it readily — brassicas, spinach, asparagus, figs, and many Mediterranean herbs. Tropical fruits on tolerant rootstocks manage it in the far South.
Soil data: USDA NRCS SSURGO · Soil types explained
Plants well-suited to Florida's climate, soils, and growing season — each links to its full growing profile.
The plants Florida put its name on — cultural emblems, not growing recommendations.
Citrus sinensis
Designated 1909. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Sabal palm
Sabal palmetto
Designated 1953.
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in Florida — a real per-state range, not just a zone match. Presence is statewide, so a plant may still be uncommon in your specific county; your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the local authority.
US-native plants whose hardiness range overlaps Florida’s USDA zones 8a-11b but which USDA PLANTS doesn’t map to a single state range here. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map.
What an experienced grower plans around here — each one has a move.
Sandy soils drain too fast and hold few nutrients — frequent fertilization needed
Build organic matter relentlessly — compost and cover crops turn sand into soil that holds both water and food.
Humidity drives fungal diseases (powdery mildew, black spot, rust)
Space plants for airflow, water at the base in the morning, and choose resistant varieties — your extension office lists the proven ones.
Hurricane season (June-November) can destroy plantings
Favor wind-tough perennials, stake young trees properly, and keep fall crops in containers you can move ahead of a storm.
Nematodes are a serious pest in sandy FL soils
Summer solarization and crop-family rotation knock nematodes back — your extension office can confirm the species from a soil sample.
For cultivar selection, pest pressure, and planting-time guidance specific to Florida, the UF/IFAS Extension is the authoritative local source.
Safe to Grow Here?What the federal record shows across Florida — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Florida — 76,189 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 602 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Florida carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Severity Distribution
across Florida
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
State averages sketch the shape. Your soil, sun exposure, drainage, and microclimate decide what actually takes. Pull a site-specific report for your exact parcel.
Enter your address. We read your soil, sun, drainage, and frost dates, then score 1,112 plants against the real conditions on your land.
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
Florida spans USDA hardiness zones 8a-11b, per the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 weather data.
The last spring frost in Florida is typically around Jan 1 - Mar 15, and the first fall frost around Nov 15 - never (south FL), per NOAA 30-year climate normals (1991–2020). Your specific site may differ — frost dates vary by elevation, proximity to water, and local microclimate.
Florida's zones 8a-11b support a wide range — strong performers include Mango, Tomato, Orange, Sweet Potato, and Banana. What actually takes on any one site comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage, and we score each plant against the real conditions at your address.
Officially, Florida spans USDA zones 8a-11b (USDA PHZM 2023) — but a zone is a 30-year average of winter's coldest night across an area, and it can't see any one yard. A south-facing slope, a tree line, or a low frost pocket can shift a single site by half a zone either way, which is why neighboring gardeners often quote different numbers. We read the conditions at your exact address — soil, sun, slope, and frost — and score 1,112 plants against what's actually there.
The federal record across Florida runs heavier than most — 76,189 documented sites — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.
Start with three facts. Florida spans USDA zones 8a-11b, which sets what survives winter; the statewide frost window runs about Jan 1 - Mar 15 to Nov 15 - never (south FL) (NOAA 30-year climate normals); and 76,189 documented sites sit on the federal record here, so a soil test before food beds is the smart first step. From there, matching plants to your actual soil and sun is the fun part.
Everything on this page is a Florida average. Your yard writes its own version — we read soil, sun, drainage, and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Explore growing conditions by county — each has its own zone range and land area.
Explore growing conditions by city or town in Florida.
Florida shares its dominant growing region with these states — a useful comparison if you're weighing where a crop will behave the same way.
