What Grows in Audubon Park, Kentucky

USDA Zones 7a · 209 acres

Audubon Park, Kentucky, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Audubon Park — the short answer

Audubon Park, Kentucky: USDA zone 7a, about 245 days between hard freezes, across 209 acres of city.

USDA zone
7a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 19
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 19
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~245
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
209 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

7a7a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7a is Audubon Park's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Audubon Park's 245-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Audubon Park

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

Season length

Measured

Audubon Park runs about 245 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

Audubon Park sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.

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 Audubon Park is in

Audubon Park sits in the Interior Plateau — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Audubon Park's own centroid rather than borrowed from Jefferson County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Audubon Park

Every plant below cleared Audubon Park's own zone 7a and its 245-day season. Each card opens that plant's Kentucky profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in KentuckyZones 2–11Audubon Park's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Kentucky hazelnut guideZones 4–9Audubon Park's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in KentuckyZones 6–10Audubon Park's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Kentucky growing notesZones 2–11Audubon Park's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in KentuckyZones 5–9Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Kentucky lavender guideZones 5–8Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in KentuckyZones 2–10Audubon Park's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pecan, photograph
Pecan: Kentucky growing notesZones 5–9Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Roman chamomile, photograph
Growing roman chamomile in KentuckyZones 3–9Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Kentucky kale guideZones 2–11Audubon Park's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in KentuckyZones 5–10Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Kentucky growing notesZones 2–11Audubon Park's 245 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Growing apple in KentuckyZones 3–8Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Kentucky okra guideZones 2–12Audubon Park's 245 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in KentuckyZones 2–11Audubon Park's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Kentucky growing notesZones 3–10Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in KentuckyZones 2–11Audubon Park's 245 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Kentucky apache plume guideZones 5–11Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in KentuckyZones 3–8Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Kentucky growing notesZones 3–8Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in KentuckyAudubon Park's 245 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Kentucky holly guideZones 5–11Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in KentuckyZones 3–9Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Kentucky growing notesZones 6–8Audubon Park's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in KentuckyZones 3–9Audubon Park's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Kentucky ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Audubon Park's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in KentuckyZones 2–7Audubon Park's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Kentucky growing notesZones 4–10Audubon Park's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in KentuckyZones 5–10Audubon Park's 245 days clear the ~45 it needs.
Eastern gamagrass, photograph
Kentucky eastern gamagrass guideZones 5–9Audubon Park's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Audubon Park?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 19; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 19 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 19 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With a season this long, “too late” mostly means “switch crops” — second sowings and a full fall garden are the norm, with garlic closing the year.

Documented around Audubon Park

Survey cells within 31 miles of Audubon Park checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 56 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Audubon Park

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

  1. Audubon Country ClubUnderground Storage Tanks · 1900 ft
  2. FE02 056 0061 B00032N 04.57Brownfields · 2400 ft
  3. FE02 056 0061 B00031N 04.82Brownfields · 2400 ft
  4. FE02 056 0061 B00030N 05.00Brownfields · 2400 ft
  5. D & D Marathon IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
  6. Fetter Printing CoUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
  7. CLASSIC COLLISION - 2068 - LOUISVILLEBrownfields · 2600 ft
  8. KY Metal Products CoUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
  9. Thornton Oil No 60Underground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  10. Sav A Step No 27Underground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  11. Taco Bell RestaurantUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  12. Former AshlandUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi

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

Measured from Audubon Park'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 Audubon Park.

Total Sites

3,186

within ~10 miles of Audubon Park

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

36 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Audubon Park

High4Moderate912Low2,270

Highest-Severity Sites

Globe Union/ Louisville, Ky.
Mining Sites · Unknown
Lee'S Lane Landfill
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Mt Washington Water Company
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
3rd Street Marathon
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
49-13-40
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Audubon Park, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Audubon Park — Toxics Release Inventory (244 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (2,163 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.

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.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Audubon Park

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 Audubon Park average

Your land is one point inside Audubon Park

Everything above resolves to Audubon Park as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 209 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 Audubon Park Average

Audubon Park Average

  • USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Audubon Park
  • One soil character for all of Audubon Park
  • Frost dates read at Audubon Park's scale: Mar 19 to Nov 19

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Audubon Park's 7a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Audubon Park

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Audubon Park averages 245Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Audubon Park

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 Audubon Park’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 Audubon Park

When does frost risk typically end in Audubon Park?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Audubon Park typically lands around Mar 19, 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 9.

When is the first frost in Audubon Park?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Audubon Park typically arrives around Nov 19, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 5, so the watching starts about Oct 20 — about 245 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Audubon Park?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Audubon Park sees about 245 frost-free days — roughly Mar 19 through Nov 19, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 9 to Nov 5, about 210 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Audubon Park?

The federal record around Audubon Park is a meaningful one — 3,186 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (2,163), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Audubon Park?

From about Oct 20 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 19 (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 19. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Audubon Park's scale — its 7a band and its 245-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Audubon Park'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 Audubon Park’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Audubon Park's own scale — its own ~245-day season between 28°F freezes, the 209 acres it covers and 3,186 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Audubon Park's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Audubon Park's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 19 and Nov 19 and the ~245-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 3,186 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Audubon Park, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Audubon Park's boundary and the 209 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~245-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Audubon Park's own centroid, the Interior PlateauUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Audubon Park checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Audubon Park's 209 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Jefferson County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Jefferson County
  • The growing challenges every Kentucky grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Kentucky
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Jefferson County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Audubon Park's 209 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Audubon Park you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 209 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Audubon Park-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address