On Top of the World, Florida, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Well-matched crops include artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in On Top of the World, 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 On Top of the World 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 On Top of the World — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
On Top of the World — the short answer
On Top of the World, Florida: USDA zone 9a, about 314 days between hard freezes, across 11K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 3
- Marion County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 14
- Marion County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~314
- Marion County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 11K 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 Marion County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is On Top of the World's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against On Top of the World's 314-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in On Top of the World
Each reading below is measured for On Top of the World itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsOn Top of the World runs about 314 days between hard freezes (read from Marion County, the closest normal to On Top of the World) — 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
MeasuredOn Top of the World sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a.
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 On Top of the World is in
On Top of the World sits in the Southern Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at On Top of the World's own centroid rather than borrowed from Marion County.
What Grows in On Top of the World
Every plant below cleared On Top of the World's own zone 9a and its 314-day season. Each card opens that plant's Florida profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in On Top of the World?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 6; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 3 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 14 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With almost year-round growing weather, timing is about heat and rainfall more than frost — some bench is always in play.
What's on the federal record near On Top of the World
Closest first, within ~10 miles of On Top of the World. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- COLONADES AT ON TOP OF THE WORLDBrownfields · 1.9 mi
- SILVER SPRINGS SHORES FIRE DEPTUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
- MARION CNTY-ENGINEERING LABUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
- WEST SIDE CONSOLIDATEDPFAS · 2.0 mi
- ON TOP OF THE WORLD COMMUNITIES, LLCPFAS · 2.0 mi
- PUBLIX SUPER MARKET #1201Brownfields · 2.5 mi
- SHADY LADYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.5 mi
- WINN-DIXIE #2289Brownfields · 2.6 mi
- WALMART NEIGHBORHOOD MRK #4434 FU STUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.6 mi
- WALMART NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET #4434Brownfields · 2.6 mi
- CVS PHARMACY #5921Brownfields · 2.6 mi
- LOWES OF SW MARION COUNTY FL #2753Brownfields · 2.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from On Top of the World'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 On Top of the World.
Total Sites
408
within ~10 miles of On Top of the World
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of On Top of the World
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of On Top of the World
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around On Top of the World, Toxics Release Inventory runs higher than the national average — 26 sites within ~10 miles of On Top of the World. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in On Top of the World
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 On Top of the World average
Your land is one point inside On Top of the World
Everything above resolves to On Top of the World as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 11K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Marion County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’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 town 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 On Top of the World Average
On Top of the World Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across On Top of the World
- ●One soil character for all of On Top of the World
- ●Frost dates read at On Top of the World's scale: Feb 3 to Dec 14
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not On Top of the World's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in On Top of the World
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in On Top of the World, Florida — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that On Top of the World averages can't show:
We read public map data around On Top of the World — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the On Top of the World average
How we know this about On Top of the World
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Marion 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 town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-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 On Top of the World
When does frost risk typically end in On Top of the World?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in On Top of the World typically lands around Feb 3, 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 24.
When is the first frost in On Top of the World?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in On Top of the World typically arrives around Dec 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 30, so the watching starts about Nov 14 — about 314 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in On Top of the World?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, On Top of the World sees about 314 frost-free days — roughly Feb 3 through Dec 14, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 24 to Nov 30, about 279 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in On Top of the World?
The federal record around On Top of the World is a meaningful one — 408 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (226), the nearest Brownfields record about 1.9 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 On Top of the World?
From about Nov 14 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 14 (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 14. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at On Top of the World's scale — its 9a band and its 314-day season. Your yard writes its own version of On Top of the World'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 On Top of the World’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at On Top of the World's own scale — the 11,204 acres it covers and 408 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- On Top of the World's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 408 documented contamination sites on the federal record near On Top of the World, the closest Brownfields record about 1.9 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- On Top of the World's boundary and the 11,204 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~314-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at On Top of the World's own centroid, the Southern Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — On Top of the World has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Marion County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so On Top of the World's 11,204 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Marion County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Marion 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 Marion County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among On Top of the World's 11,204 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of On Top of the World you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 11,204 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 1.9 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 On Top of the World-wide figureread your own land →
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