What Grows in Samoset, Florida

USDA Zones 10a · 938 acres

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

Crops well matched to these conditions include okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Samoset — the short answer

Samoset, Florida: USDA zone 10a, about 335 days between hard freezes, across 938 acres of town.

USDA zone
10a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Jan 19
Manatee County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 20
Manatee County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~335
Manatee County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
938 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 Manatee 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 Samoset's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Samoset's 335-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Samoset

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

Season length

From county records

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

Samoset 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 Samoset is in

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

What that means for soil

What Grows in Samoset

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

Is it too late to plant in Samoset?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. 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 19 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 20 — 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 Samoset

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

  1. ECOL #9841Underground Storage Tanks · 450 ft
  2. BRADENTON LINCOLN MERCURY INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
  3. NATIONAL FOOD CENTERUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  4. FL DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION ROW-DANS SUPERMARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 1700 ft
  5. GAINES C T PROPERTYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
  6. DOUGLASS PROPERTYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
  7. CRAZY PAPAS #2Underground Storage Tanks · 1900 ft
  8. AMOCO-PATSUnderground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
  9. WAWA FOOD MARKET# 5178Underground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
  10. MANATEE CNTY-FLEET FUELINGUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
  11. JOSE'S CUSTOM AUTO PAINTINGBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  12. VANDECARS TRIPS & TOURSBrownfields · 0.6 mi

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

Measured from Samoset'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 Samoset.

Total Sites

1,393

within ~10 miles of Samoset

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

9 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Samoset

High2Moderate325Low1,066

Highest-Severity Sites

Bradenton City of
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Town of Longboat Key
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
14TH Street Chevron
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
28 38 6 Fl
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
28 38 6 Fl
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

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.
  • On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Samoset

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 Samoset average

Your land is one point inside Samoset

Everything above resolves to Samoset as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 938 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Manatee 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 Samoset Average

Samoset Average

  • USDA Zones 10a, averaged across Samoset
  • One soil character for all of Samoset
  • Frost dates read at Samoset's scale: Jan 19 to Dec 20

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Samoset

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

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

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

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

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

How we know this about Samoset

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 Manatee 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 Samoset

When does frost risk typically end in Samoset?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Samoset typically lands around Jan 19, 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 9.

When is the first frost in Samoset?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Samoset typically arrives around Dec 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Dec 6, so the watching starts about Nov 20 — about 335 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Samoset?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Samoset sees about 335 frost-free days — roughly Jan 19 through Dec 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 9 to Dec 6, about 300 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Samoset?

The federal record around Samoset is a meaningful one — 1,393 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (769), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Samoset?

From about Nov 20 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 20 (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 20. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

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

5 of the readings below were taken at Samoset's own scale — the 938 acres it covers and 1,393 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Samoset's own USDA hardiness band, zones 10aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 1,393 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Samoset, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Samoset's boundary and the 938 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 Samoset's own centroid, the Southern Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Samoset has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Manatee County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Samoset's 938 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Manatee County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Manatee 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 Manatee County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Samoset's 938 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Samoset you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 938 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Samoset-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address