Howard, Georgia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
The conditions favor cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Howard, 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 Howard 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 Howard — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Howard — the short answer
Howard, Georgia: USDA zone 8b, about 273 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 27
- Taylor County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 27
- Taylor County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~273
- Taylor 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 Taylor County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Howard's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Howard's 273-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Howard
Each reading below is measured for Howard itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsHoward runs about 273 days between hard freezes (read from Taylor County, the closest normal to Howard) — 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
MeasuredHoward sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
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 Howard is in
Howard sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Howard's own centroid rather than borrowed from Taylor County.
What Grows in Howard
Every plant below cleared Howard's own zone 8b and its 273-day season. Each card opens that plant's Georgia profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Howard?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 30; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 27 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 27 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the calendar nearly circles: cool-season crops take the winter shift, and the next window is always close.
What's on the federal record near Howard
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Howard. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- THE CRACKERLAND COUNTRY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- BROWN BRO SAND COUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- MF&H TEXTILES INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- HESTERS GRO INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.8 mi
- 10U001Nitrate · 5.1 mi
- JARRELLS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.0 mi
- 4 J K ENTERPRISES LLCUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.5 mi
- WESTERN PDC PROBATION DENT CNTREUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.7 mi
- GA SILICA DIVISIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.8 mi
- TAYLOR CO MAINT H Q BUTLERUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.9 mi
- TAYLOR COUNTY ROAD & BRIDGE DEPAUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.9 mi
- TAYLOR COUNTY SCHOOL BUS GARAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 8.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Howard'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 Howard.
Total Sites
46
within ~10 miles of Howard
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
1 Toxics Release Inventory facility
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Howard
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Howard
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Howard, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 35 sites within ~10 miles of Howard. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Howard
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 Howard average
Your land is one point inside Howard
Everything above resolves to Howard as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Taylor 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 Howard Average
Howard Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Howard
- ●One soil character for all of Howard
- ●Frost dates read at Howard's scale: Feb 27 to Nov 27
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Howard's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Howard
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Howard, Georgia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Howard averages can't show:
We read public map data around Howard — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Howard average
How we know this about Howard
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 Taylor 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 Howard
When does frost risk typically end in Howard?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Howard typically lands around Feb 27, 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 20.
When is the first frost in Howard?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Howard typically arrives around Nov 27, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 13, so the watching starts about Oct 28 — about 273 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Howard?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Howard sees about 273 frost-free days — roughly Feb 27 through Nov 27, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 20 to Nov 13, about 238 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Howard?
The federal record around Howard is light — 46 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (35), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 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 Howard?
From about Oct 28 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 Nov 27 (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 Nov 27. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Howard's scale — its 8b band and its 273-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Howard'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 Howard’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Howard's own scale — the 1,852 acres it covers and 46 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Howard's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 46 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Howard, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Howard's boundary and the 1,852 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~273-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Howard's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Howard has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Taylor County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Howard's 1,852 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Taylor County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Taylor 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 Taylor County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Howard's 1,852 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Howard you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,852 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 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 Howard-wide figureread your own land →
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