What Grows in Ocoee, Florida

USDA Zones 10a · 10K acres

Ocoee, Florida, sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

On paper, okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Ocoee — the short answer

Ocoee, Florida: USDA zone 10a, about 335 days between hard freezes, across 10K acres of city.

USDA zone
10a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Jan 20
Orange County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 21
Orange County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~335
Orange County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
City area
10K 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 Orange County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

10a10a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 10a is Ocoee's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Ocoee's 335-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Ocoee

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

Season length

From county records

Ocoee runs about 335 days between hard freezes (read from Orange County, the closest normal to Ocoee) — 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

Ocoee sits in USDA hardiness zone 10a.

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 Ocoee is in

Ocoee sits in the Southern Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Ocoee's own centroid rather than borrowed from Orange County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Ocoee

Every plant below cleared Ocoee's own zone 10a and its 335-day season. Each card opens that plant's Florida profile. How we score.

okra, photograph
Growing okra in FloridaZones 2–12Ocoee's 335 days clear the ~50 it needs.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Florida meyer lemon guideZones 9–11Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in FloridaZones 6–10Ocoee's 10a — 4 zones of cold margin.
artichoke, photograph
Artichoke: Florida growing notesZones 7–11Ocoee's 10a — 3 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Growing avocado in FloridaZones 9–11Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
basil, photograph
Florida basil guideZones 10–11Ocoee's 335 days clear the ~80 it needs.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage in FloridaZones 2–11Ocoee's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
banana, photograph
Banana: Florida growing notesZones 9–11Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Growing rosemary in FloridaZones 8–10Ocoee's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Florida collard greens guideZones 2–11Ocoee's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
citrus, photograph
Citrus in FloridaZones 9–11Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Kale: Florida growing notesZones 2–11Ocoee's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Growing lentil in FloridaZones 2–11Ocoee's 335 days clear the ~70 it needs.
potato, photograph
Florida potato guideZones 2–11Ocoee's 10a — 8 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in FloridaZones 3–11Ocoee's 335 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Florida growing notesZones 3–10Ocoee's 10a — 7 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in FloridaZones 2–11Ocoee's 335 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Florida apache plume guideZones 5–11Ocoee's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
bougainvillea, photograph
Bougainvillea in FloridaZones 9–11Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
lantana, photograph
Lantana: Florida growing notesZones 10–11Ocoee's 10a is its exact cold limit.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in FloridaOcoee's 335 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Florida holly guideZones 5–11Ocoee's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
jasmine, photograph
Jasmine in FloridaZones 9–11Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: Florida growing notesZones 5–11Ocoee's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
moringa, photograph
Growing moringa in FloridaZones 9–12Ocoee's 10a — 1 zone of cold margin.
African foxtail, photograph
Florida african foxtail guideZones 8–13Ocoee's 335 days clear the ~120 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in FloridaZones 5–11Ocoee's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.
palo verde, photograph
Palo verde: Florida growing notesZones 8–11Ocoee's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Vuda blue grass, photograph
Growing vuda blue grass in FloridaZones 8–13Ocoee's 10a — 2 zones of cold margin.
liriope, photograph
Florida liriope guideZones 5–11Ocoee's 10a — 5 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Ocoee?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 1; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Jan 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 21 — 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 Ocoee

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

  1. OCOEE, CITY OF (2 WPS)PFAS · 350 ft
  2. FARDIN ENTERPRISE ORLANDO LLCUnderground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
  3. OCOEE CITY MAINTENANCE GARAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
  4. CERTI-FINE FRUIT COUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  5. LUCKY FOOD STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  6. ROW @ REWIS & LAKEWOOD AVEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  7. CIRCLE K #7185Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  8. CIRCLE K #7185Brownfields · 0.6 mi
  9. CIRCLE K #2726294Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  10. 7-ELEVEN FOOD STORE #27501Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  11. SPRING LAKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBrownfields · 0.8 mi
  12. TOM WEST INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi

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

Measured from Ocoee'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 Ocoee.

Total Sites

2,078

within ~10 miles of Ocoee

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

17 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Ocoee

High9Moderate419Low1,650

Highest-Severity Sites

Altamonte Springs Water Dept (2 Wps)
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Chevron Chemical CO. (Ortho Division)
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Oakland Town of
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Ocoee, City of (2 Wps)
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Ocud/Western Regional Wtr Sys (4 Wps)
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

Know Before You Grow

  • Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
  • Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
  • TRI facilities report what they release. Check the wind — downwind beds catch more of it.
Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Ocoee

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 Ocoee average

Your land is one point inside Ocoee

Everything above resolves to Ocoee as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 10K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Orange 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 Ocoee Average

Ocoee Average

  • USDA Zones 10a, averaged across Ocoee
  • One soil character for all of Ocoee
  • Frost dates read at Ocoee's scale: Jan 20 to Dec 21

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Ocoee's 10a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Ocoee

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Ocoee averages 335Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Ocoee

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 Orange 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 Ocoee

When does frost risk typically end in Ocoee?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Ocoee typically lands around Jan 20, 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 Feb 10.

When is the first frost in Ocoee?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Ocoee typically arrives around Dec 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Dec 7, so the watching starts about Nov 21 — about 335 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Ocoee?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Ocoee sees about 335 frost-free days — roughly Jan 20 through Dec 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 10 to Dec 7, about 300 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Ocoee?

The federal record around Ocoee is a meaningful one — 2,078 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (1,211), the nearest PFAS 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 Ocoee?

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

Everything above is measured at Ocoee's scale — its 10a band and its 335-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Ocoee'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 Ocoee’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Ocoee's own scale — the 10,045 acres it covers and 2,078 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Ocoee's own USDA hardiness band, zones 10aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 2,078 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Ocoee, the closest PFAS record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Ocoee's boundary and the 10,045 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 10a and a ~335-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Ocoee's own centroid, the Southern Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Ocoee has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Orange County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Ocoee's 10,045 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Orange County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Orange County
  • The growing challenges every Florida grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Florida
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Orange County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Ocoee's 10,045 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Ocoee you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 10,045 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest PFAS 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 Ocoee-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address