What Grows in Keokea, Hawaii

USDA Zones 11b · 12K acres

Keokea, Hawaii, sits in USDA hardiness zone 11b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

Crops well matched to these conditions include artichoke, starfruit, allspice, and cabbage — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

Keokea — the short answer

Keokea, Hawaii: USDA zone 11b, no 28°F killing freeze in Maui County’s record — the season is year-round, across 12K acres of town.

USDA zone
11b
USDA PHZM 2023
Killing freeze
None on record
Maui County normal — NOAA RCC ACIS 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
12K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. The year-round finding is measured — Maui County’s 30-year record, the closest to this town, contains no 28°F killing freeze — never inferred from missing dates.

Hardiness Zone Range

11b11b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 11b is Keokea's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Keokea's no killing freeze on record, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Keokea

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

Season length

From county records

Keokea has no station of its own, and Maui County’s 30-year record — the closest to it — carries no 28°F killing freeze at all — 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

Keokea sits in USDA hardiness zone 11b.

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

What Grows in Keokea

Every plant below cleared Keokea's own zone 11b and its 365-day season. Each card opens that plant's Hawaii profile. How we score.

artichoke, photograph
Growing artichoke in HawaiiZones 7–11Keokea's 11b — 4 zones of cold margin.
starfruit, photograph
Hawaii starfruit guideZones 10–12Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
allspice, photograph
Allspice in HawaiiZones 10–12Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage: Hawaii growing notesZones 2–11Keokea's 11b — 9 zones of cold margin.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Growing meyer lemon in HawaiiZones 9–11Keokea's 11b — 2 zones of cold margin.
ashwagandha, photograph
Hawaii ashwagandha guideZones 8–12Keokea's 11b — 3 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens in HawaiiZones 2–11Keokea's 11b — 9 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Avocado: Hawaii growing notesZones 9–11Keokea's 11b — 2 zones of cold margin.
cinnamon, photograph
Growing cinnamon in HawaiiZones 10–12Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Hawaii kale guideZones 2–11Keokea's 11b — 9 zones of cold margin.
banana, photograph
Banana in HawaiiZones 9–11Keokea's 11b — 2 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Potato: Hawaii growing notesZones 2–11Keokea's 11b — 9 zones of cold margin.
cassava, photograph
Growing cassava in HawaiiZones 8–12Keokea's 11b — 3 zones of cold margin.
eggplant, photograph
Hawaii eggplant guideZones 2–12Keokea's 11b — 9 zones of cold margin.
ginger, photograph
Ginger in HawaiiZones 8–12Keokea's 11b — 3 zones of cold margin.
plumeria, photograph
Plumeria: Hawaii growing notesZones 10–12Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
begonia, photograph
Growing begonia in HawaiiZones 10–11Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Apache plume, photograph
Hawaii apache plume guideZones 5–11Keokea's 11b — 6 zones of cold margin.
cypress vine, photograph
Cypress vine in HawaiiZones 11–12Keokea's 11b is its exact cold limit.
lantana, photograph
Lantana: Hawaii growing notesZones 10–11Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
salvia, photograph
Growing salvia in HawaiiZones 2–11Keokea's 11b — 9 zones of cold margin.
holly, photograph
Hawaii holly guideZones 5–11Keokea's 11b — 6 zones of cold margin.
black-eyed Susan vine, photograph
Black-eyed Susan vine in HawaiiZones 10–11Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: Hawaii growing notesZones 5–11Keokea's 11b — 6 zones of cold margin.
moringa, photograph
Growing moringa in HawaiiZones 9–12Keokea's 11b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Mackie's pest, photograph
Hawaii mackie's pest guideZones 10–13Keokea's 11b — 1 zone of cold margin.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in HawaiiZones 5–11Keokea's 11b — 6 zones of cold margin.
palo verde, photograph
Palo verde: Hawaii growing notesZones 8–11Keokea's 11b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Vuda blue grass, photograph
Growing vuda blue grass in HawaiiZones 8–13Keokea's 11b — 3 zones of cold margin.
liriope, photograph
Hawaii liriope guideZones 5–11Keokea's 11b — 6 zones of cold margin.

What's on the federal record near Keokea

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

  1. KULA CENTRAL OFFICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  2. ULUPALAKUA RANCH STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  3. HENRY FONG STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
  4. CHING STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
  5. KULA HOSPITAL & CLINICBrownfields · 1.3 mi
  6. Kula AUTO LLC @ CALASA GarageUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
  7. KULA EXPERIMENT STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.5 mi
  8. MAUI AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTER, MAUI COUNTYBrownfields · 3.5 mi
  9. ANDREWS, DR. JOSEPHUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
  10. LOWER KULAPFAS · 4.4 mi
  11. UPPER KULAPFAS · 4.4 mi
  12. CALVIN S. NEMOTO TRUSTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.5 mi

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

Measured from Keokea'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 Keokea.

Total Sites

116

within ~10 miles of Keokea

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

31 brownfield sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Keokea

High0Moderate40Low76

Highest-Severity Sites

6-4126-02 Wailea 2 (W78-1), Maui, Hi
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
6-4126-02 Wailea 2 (W78-1), Maui, Hi
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
6-4326-09 Kihei Maui Vista, Maui, Hi
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
6-4326-09 Kihei Maui Vista, Maui, Hi
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 Keokea

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 Keokea average

Your land is one point inside Keokea

Everything above resolves to Keokea as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 12K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Maui 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 Keokea Average

Keokea Average

  • USDA Zones 11b, averaged across Keokea
  • One soil character for all of Keokea
  • State-average frost dates

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Keokea's 11b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Keokea

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free daysYour sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Keokea

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 Maui 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 Keokea

Is it too late to plant in Keokea?

No — Keokea has no station of its own, and Maui County's 30-year record, the closest to it, holds no 28°F killing freeze, so the growing season is year-round and there is no last-frost date to wait for. Planting is paced by rainfall, heat and daylength instead of by frost: start heat-lovers any month, and time cool-season crops (lettuce, brassicas, peas) for the cooler, wetter half of the year or for higher ground. Succession sowing every few weeks works all year, so the limit is what you can keep watered and harvested, not the calendar.

When does frost risk typically end in Keokea?

It doesn't — Keokea has no station of its own, and the 1991–2020 record for Maui County, the nearest to it, carries no 28°F killing freeze at all, so there is no spring frost date to plant after. Cold still matters with elevation: the higher you garden, the cooler the nights, and a few tropical crops sulk below about 60°F even where they never freeze.

How long is the growing season in Keokea?

Year-round — Keokea has no station of its own, and the 1991–2020 record for Maui County, the closest to it, contains no 28°F killing freeze, so there is no season to measure between freezes. What paces planting instead is heat, rainfall and daylength: the hottest, wettest stretch is the hard part for cool-season crops, not winter. Elevation is the one real exception — the higher you garden, the colder the nights get.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Keokea?

The federal record around Keokea shows 116 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (61), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.9 miles 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.

Everything above is measured at Keokea's scale — its 11b band and its no killing freeze on record. Your yard writes its own version of Keokea'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 Keokea’s own scale

4 of the readings below were taken at Keokea's own scale — the 11,742 acres it covers and 116 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Keokea's own USDA hardiness band, zones 11bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 116 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Keokea, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.9 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Keokea's boundary and the 11,742 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 11b and a ~365-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine

Inherited from a wider read

  • The frost finding — Keokea has no station of its own, and its county's 30-year record contains no 28°F killing freeze at allfrom Maui County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Keokea's 11,742 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Maui County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Maui County
  • The growing challenges every Hawaii grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Hawaii
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Maui County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Keokea's 11,742 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Keokea you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 11,742 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.9 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 Keokea-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in Hawaii

Wider growing context

What grows across Hawaii

Keokea sits outside our named growing regions, so Hawaii as a whole is its closest context here.

Nearby growing guides