Enigma, Georgia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
These conditions suit artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Enigma, 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 Enigma 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 Enigma — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Enigma — the short answer
Enigma, Georgia: USDA zone 9a, about 286 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 18
- Berrien County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 1
- Berrien County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~286
- Berrien County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 2K 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 Berrien County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Enigma's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Enigma's 286-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Enigma
Each reading below is measured for Enigma itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsEnigma runs about 286 days between hard freezes (read from Berrien County, the closest normal to Enigma) — 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
MeasuredEnigma 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 Enigma is in
Enigma sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Enigma's own centroid rather than borrowed from Berrien County.
What Grows in Enigma
Every plant below cleared Enigma's own zone 9a and its 286-day season. Each card opens that plant's Georgia profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Enigma?
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 21; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 18 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 1 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.
What's on the federal record near Enigma
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Enigma. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- ENIGMA MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- PARADISE PUBLIC FISHING AREAUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
- PAPAS XPRESSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- QUICK STOP #2Underground Storage Tanks · 3.1 mi
- BROOKFIELD GENERAL STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- EZ FOOD MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.3 mi
- SUNNY FOOD MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.6 mi
- COASTAL PLAIN EXPERIMENT STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.1 mi
- J H MOOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.5 mi
- TUCKERS ALAPAHA STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.6 mi
- 18J022Nitrate · 5.6 mi
- 20K006Nitrate · 5.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Enigma'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 Enigma.
Total Sites
37
within ~10 miles of Enigma
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Enigma
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Enigma
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Enigma, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 10 sites within ~10 miles of Enigma. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Enigma
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 Enigma average
Your land is one point inside Enigma
Everything above resolves to Enigma as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Berrien 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 Enigma Average
Enigma Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Enigma
- ●One soil character for all of Enigma
- ●Frost dates read at Enigma's scale: Feb 18 to Dec 1
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Enigma's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Enigma
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Enigma, Georgia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Enigma averages can't show:
We read public map data around Enigma — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Enigma average
How we know this about Enigma
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 Berrien 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 Enigma
When does frost risk typically end in Enigma?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Enigma typically lands around Feb 18, 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 Mar 11.
When is the first frost in Enigma?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Enigma typically arrives around Dec 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 17, so the watching starts about Nov 1 — about 286 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Enigma?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Enigma sees about 286 frost-free days — roughly Feb 18 through Dec 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 11 to Nov 17, about 251 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Enigma?
The federal record around Enigma is light — 37 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (22), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.0 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 Enigma?
From about Nov 1 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 1 (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 1. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Enigma's scale — its 9a band and its 286-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Enigma'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 Enigma’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Enigma's own scale — the 2,082 acres it covers and 37 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Enigma's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 37 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Enigma, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.0 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Enigma's boundary and the 2,082 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~286-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Enigma's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Enigma has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Berrien County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Enigma's 2,082 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Berrien County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Berrien County
- The growing challenges every Georgia grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Georgia
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Berrien County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Enigma's 2,082 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Enigma you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,082 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.0 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 Enigma-wide figureread your own land →
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