What Grows in New Cambria, Kansas

USDA Zones 6b · 114 acres

New Cambria, Kansas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

On paper, cabbage, hazelnut, lavender, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

New Cambria — the short answer

New Cambria, Kansas: USDA zone 6b, about 216 days between hard freezes, across 114 acres of city.

USDA zone
6b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 2
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 4
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~216
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
114 acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

6b6b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 6b is New Cambria's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against New Cambria's 216-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in New Cambria

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

Season length

Measured

New Cambria runs about 216 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

New Cambria sits in USDA hardiness zone 6b.

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 New Cambria is in

New Cambria sits in the Central Great Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at New Cambria's own centroid rather than borrowed from Saline County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in New Cambria

Every plant below cleared New Cambria's own zone 6b and its 216-day season. Each card opens that plant's Kansas profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in KansasZones 2–11New Cambria's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Kansas hazelnut guideZones 4–9New Cambria's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in KansasZones 5–8New Cambria's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Kansas growing notesZones 2–11New Cambria's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Growing blackberry in KansasZones 5–8New Cambria's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
Kansas california poppy guideZones 6–10New Cambria's 6b is its exact cold limit.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in KansasZones 2–10New Cambria's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Kansas growing notesZones 3–8New Cambria's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in KansasNew Cambria's 216 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Kansas kale guideZones 2–11New Cambria's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Pawpaw in KansasZones 5–9New Cambria's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
angelica, photograph
Angelica: Kansas growing notesZones 4–9New Cambria's 216 days clear the ~120 it needs.
lentil, photograph
Growing lentil in KansasZones 2–11New Cambria's 216 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Kansas okra guideZones 2–12New Cambria's 216 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in KansasZones 2–11New Cambria's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Kansas growing notesZones 3–10New Cambria's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in KansasZones 2–11New Cambria's 216 days clear the ~70 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Kansas lilac guideZones 4–10New Cambria's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in KansasZones 3–8New Cambria's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Kansas growing notesZones 3–8New Cambria's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in KansasNew Cambria's 216 days clear the ~50 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Kansas apache plume guideZones 5–11New Cambria's 6b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in KansasZones 3–9New Cambria's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Kansas growing notesZones 6–8New Cambria's 6b is its exact cold limit.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in KansasZones 3–9New Cambria's 6b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Kansas ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10New Cambria's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in KansasZones 2–7New Cambria's 6b — 4 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Kansas growing notesZones 4–10New Cambria's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Growing alfalfa in KansasZones 2–10New Cambria's 216 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Indian grass, photograph
Kansas indian grass guideZones 4–9New Cambria's 6b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in New Cambria?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 5; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 2 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 4 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. There is slack in a calendar like this — late plantings, second rounds of favorites, and a fall bench that keeps beds working.

What's on the federal record near New Cambria

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

  1. GARRISON GRAIN COUnderground Storage Tanks · 850 ft
  2. 13S 02W 28DD 01Nitrate · 1.9 mi
  3. SALINA WRECKER SVC & TRANSPORT INCBrownfields · 2.2 mi
  4. GREAT PLAINS MFG INC SALINA IVBrownfields · 2.2 mi
  5. 14S 02W 03CCD 01Nitrate · 2.2 mi
  6. 13S 01W 32BCB 01Nitrate · 2.3 mi
  7. SCOULAR CO. - SALINABrownfields · 3.4 mi
  8. EXLINE INC.Brownfields · 3.5 mi
  9. EXLINE INC.Toxics Release Inventory · 3.5 mi
  10. EXLINE INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.6 mi
  11. SALINA COUNTRY CLUBBrownfields · 4.1 mi
  12. 13S 01W 07BCC 01Nitrate · 4.2 mi

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

Measured from New Cambria'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 New Cambria.

Total Sites

527

within ~10 miles of New Cambria

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

13 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of New Cambria

High1Moderate191Low335

Highest-Severity Sites

Salina, City of
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
13S 01W 07BCC 01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
13S 01W 07BCC 01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
13S 01W 16DC 01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
13S 01W 16DC 01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around New Cambria, Superfund runs higher than the national average — 13 sites within ~10 miles of New Cambria. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.

Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in New Cambria

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 New Cambria average

Your land is one point inside New Cambria

Everything above resolves to New Cambria as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 114 acres. 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 New Cambria Average

New Cambria Average

  • USDA Zones 6b, averaged across New Cambria
  • One soil character for all of New Cambria
  • Frost dates read at New Cambria's scale: Apr 2 to Nov 4

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not New Cambria's 6b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in New Cambria

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — New Cambria averages 216Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about New Cambria

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 New Cambria’s own record; 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 New Cambria

When does frost risk typically end in New Cambria?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in New Cambria typically lands around Apr 2, 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 Apr 23.

When is the first frost in New Cambria?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in New Cambria typically arrives around Nov 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 21, so the watching starts about Oct 5 — about 216 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in New Cambria?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, New Cambria sees about 216 frost-free days — roughly Apr 2 through Nov 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 23 to Oct 21, about 181 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in New Cambria?

The federal record around New Cambria is a meaningful one — 527 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (227), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles 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 New Cambria?

From about Oct 5 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 4 (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 4. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at New Cambria's scale — its 6b band and its 216-day season. Your yard writes its own version of New Cambria'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 New Cambria’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at New Cambria's own scale — its own ~216-day season between 28°F freezes, the 114 acres it covers and 527 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • New Cambria's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • New Cambria's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 2 and Nov 4 and the ~216-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 527 documented contamination sites on the federal record near New Cambria, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • New Cambria's boundary and the 114 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6b and a ~216-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at New Cambria's own centroid, the Central Great PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so New Cambria's 114 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Saline County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Saline County
  • The growing challenges every Kansas grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Kansas
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Saline County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among New Cambria's 114 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of New Cambria you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 114 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 New Cambria-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in Kansas

Wider growing context

What grows across Kansas

New Cambria sits outside our named growing regions, so Kansas as a whole is its closest context here.

Nearby growing guides