Fitzgerald, 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.
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 Fitzgerald, 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 Fitzgerald 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 Fitzgerald — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Fitzgerald — the short answer
Fitzgerald, Georgia: USDA zone 9a, about 291 days between hard freezes, across 6K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 14
- Ben Hill County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 2
- Ben Hill County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~291
- Ben Hill County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- City area
- 6K 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 Ben Hill County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Fitzgerald's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Fitzgerald's 291-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Fitzgerald
Each reading below is measured for Fitzgerald itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsFitzgerald runs about 291 days between hard freezes (read from Ben Hill County, the closest normal to Fitzgerald) — 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
MeasuredFitzgerald 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 Fitzgerald is in
Fitzgerald sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Fitzgerald's own centroid rather than borrowed from Ben Hill County.
What Grows in Fitzgerald
Every plant below cleared Fitzgerald's own zone 9a and its 291-day season. Each card opens that plant's Georgia profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Fitzgerald?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 17; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 14 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 2 — 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 Fitzgerald
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Fitzgerald. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- DRAKE FUELS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 250 ft
- MERRITT AUTO SERVICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 350 ft
- FITZGERALD SUMMITUnderground Storage Tanks · 350 ft
- PRO-CAR CAREUnderground Storage Tanks · 550 ft
- FOOD MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
- GA FC-BEN HILL CO UNITUnderground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
- COLONY PLAZA INC D/B/A/ PLAZA FOUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
- LOWELL PACKING COUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
- NICK'S TIRE & BPUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
- WINDSTREAM FITZGERALD CENTRAL OFFICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 950 ft
- ITT RAYONIERUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
- JAMES'S GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Fitzgerald'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 Fitzgerald.
Total Sites
146
within ~10 miles of Fitzgerald
Risk Level
Moderate
Highest-severity
13 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Fitzgerald
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Fitzgerald
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Fitzgerald, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Fitzgerald — Toxics Release Inventory (13 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (100 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Fitzgerald
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 Fitzgerald average
Your land is one point inside Fitzgerald
Everything above resolves to Fitzgerald as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 6K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Ben Hill 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 Fitzgerald Average
Fitzgerald Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Fitzgerald
- ●One soil character for all of Fitzgerald
- ●Frost dates read at Fitzgerald's scale: Feb 14 to Dec 2
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Fitzgerald's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Fitzgerald
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Fitzgerald, Georgia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Fitzgerald averages can't show:
We read public map data around Fitzgerald — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Fitzgerald average
How we know this about Fitzgerald
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 Ben Hill 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 Fitzgerald
When does frost risk typically end in Fitzgerald?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Fitzgerald typically lands around Feb 14, 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 7.
When is the first frost in Fitzgerald?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Fitzgerald typically arrives around Dec 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 18, so the watching starts about Nov 2 — about 291 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Fitzgerald?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Fitzgerald sees about 291 frost-free days — roughly Feb 14 through Dec 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 7 to Nov 18, about 256 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Fitzgerald?
The federal record around Fitzgerald shows 146 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (100), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out — a typical footprint for a growing area, and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. It's worth seeing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and testing the soil before new food beds near any of them.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Fitzgerald?
From about Nov 2 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 2 (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 2. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Fitzgerald's scale — its 9a band and its 291-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Fitzgerald'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 Fitzgerald’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Fitzgerald's own scale — the 5,797 acres it covers and 146 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Fitzgerald's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 146 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Fitzgerald, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Fitzgerald's boundary and the 5,797 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~291-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Fitzgerald's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Fitzgerald has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Ben Hill County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Fitzgerald's 5,797 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Ben Hill County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Ben Hill 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 Ben Hill County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Fitzgerald's 5,797 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Fitzgerald you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 5,797 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 Fitzgerald-wide figureread your own land →
More in Georgia
Wider growing context
What grows across GeorgiaFitzgerald sits outside our named growing regions, so Georgia as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides