Otter Creek, Florida, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Reliable performers under these conditions include artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Otter Creek, 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 Otter Creek 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 Otter Creek — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Otter Creek — the short answer
Otter Creek, Florida: USDA zone 9a, about 310 days between hard freezes, across 871 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 3
- Levy County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 10
- Levy County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~310
- Levy County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 871 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 Levy County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Otter Creek's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Otter Creek's 310-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Otter Creek
Each reading below is measured for Otter Creek itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsOtter Creek runs about 310 days between hard freezes (read from Levy County, the closest normal to Otter Creek) — 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
MeasuredOtter Creek 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 Otter Creek is in
Otter Creek sits in the Southern Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Otter Creek's own centroid rather than borrowed from Levy County.
What Grows in Otter Creek
Every plant below cleared Otter Creek's own zone 9a and its 310-day season. Each card opens that plant's Florida profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Otter Creek?
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 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 10 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.
What's on the federal record near Otter Creek
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Otter Creek. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- S C CLYATTUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
- QUIK STOP-HERSHELUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- BJS QUICK STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- MARTINS COUNTRY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- BP-ARCHERUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- HODGE PROPERTYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- COUCHS STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- 13S16E16 921242431Nitrate · 4.5 mi
- FRANK COUCHUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.6 mi
- JOCO OF GULF HAMMOCKUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.7 mi
- PETRO AMERICAUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.8 mi
- AT&TUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.8 mi
4 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Otter Creek'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 Otter Creek.
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Otter Creek
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Check your specific parcel in Otter Creek
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 Otter Creek average
Your land is one point inside Otter Creek
Everything above resolves to Otter Creek as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 871 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Levy 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 Otter Creek Average
Otter Creek Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Otter Creek
- ●One soil character for all of Otter Creek
- ●Frost dates read at Otter Creek's scale: Feb 3 to Dec 10
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Otter Creek's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Otter Creek
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Otter Creek, Florida — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Otter Creek averages can't show:
We read public map data around Otter Creek — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Otter Creek average
How we know this about Otter Creek
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 Levy 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 Otter Creek
When does frost risk typically end in Otter Creek?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Otter Creek 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 Otter Creek?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Otter Creek typically arrives around Dec 10, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 26, so the watching starts about Nov 10 — about 310 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Otter Creek?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Otter Creek sees about 310 frost-free days — roughly Feb 3 through Dec 10, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 24 to Nov 26, about 275 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Otter Creek?
The federal record around Otter Creek is light — 17 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (15), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Otter Creek?
From about Nov 10 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 10 (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 10. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Otter Creek's scale — its 9a band and its 310-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Otter Creek'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 Otter Creek’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Otter Creek's own scale — the 871 acres it covers and 17 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Otter Creek's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 17 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Otter Creek, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Otter Creek's boundary and the 871 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~310-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Otter Creek's own centroid, the Southern Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Otter Creek has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Levy County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Otter Creek's 871 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Levy County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Levy 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 Levy County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Otter Creek's 871 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Otter Creek you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 871 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Otter Creek-wide figureread your own land →
More in Florida
Wider growing context
What grows across FloridaOtter Creek sits outside our named growing regions, so Florida as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides