What Grows in Bordelonville, Louisiana

USDA Zones 9a · 3K acres

Bordelonville, Louisiana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

Among the crops suited to this profile: artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Bordelonville — the short answer

Bordelonville, Louisiana: USDA zone 9a, about 303 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of town.

USDA zone
9a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 6
Avoyelles Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 6
Avoyelles Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~303
Avoyelles Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
3K 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 Avoyelles Parish’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

9a9a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 9a is Bordelonville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Bordelonville's 303-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Bordelonville

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

Season length

From county records

Bordelonville runs about 303 days between hard freezes (read from Avoyelles Parish, the closest normal to Bordelonville) — 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

Measured

Bordelonville 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 Bordelonville is in

Bordelonville sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Bordelonville's own centroid rather than borrowed from Avoyelles Parish.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Bordelonville

Every plant below cleared Bordelonville's own zone 9a and its 303-day season. Each card opens that plant's Louisiana profile. How we score.

artichoke, photograph
Growing artichoke in LouisianaZones 7–11Bordelonville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Louisiana fig guideZones 6–10Bordelonville's 9a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in LouisianaZones 6–10Bordelonville's 9a — 3 zones of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage: Louisiana growing notesZones 2–11Bordelonville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Growing meyer lemon in LouisianaZones 9–11Bordelonville's 9a is its exact cold limit.
rosemary, photograph
Louisiana rosemary guideZones 8–10Bordelonville's 9a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens in LouisianaZones 2–11Bordelonville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Avocado: Louisiana growing notesZones 9–11Bordelonville's 9a is its exact cold limit.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in LouisianaBordelonville's 303 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Louisiana kale guideZones 2–11Bordelonville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil in LouisianaZones 2–11Bordelonville's 303 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Okra: Louisiana growing notesZones 2–12Bordelonville's 303 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Growing potato in LouisianaZones 2–11Bordelonville's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Louisiana pumpkin guideZones 3–11Bordelonville's 303 days clear the ~40 it needs.
sweet corn, photograph
Sweet corn in LouisianaZones 2–11Bordelonville's 303 days clear the ~65 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Louisiana growing notesZones 3–10Bordelonville's 9a — 6 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in LouisianaZones 2–11Bordelonville's 303 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Louisiana apache plume guideZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in LouisianaZones 7–11Bordelonville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
barrel cactus, photograph
Barrel cactus: Louisiana growing notesZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in LouisianaBordelonville's 303 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Louisiana holly guideZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in LouisianaZones 7–10Bordelonville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: Louisiana growing notesZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in LouisianaZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
crab grass, photograph
Louisiana crab grass guideZones 7–11Bordelonville's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in LouisianaZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Louisiana growing notesZones 4–10Bordelonville's 9a — 5 zones of cold margin.
feather top Rhodes grass, photograph
Growing feather top rhodes grass in LouisianaZones 7–11Bordelonville's 303 days clear the ~90 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Louisiana liriope guideZones 5–11Bordelonville's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Bordelonville?

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 9; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 6 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 6 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.

What's on the federal record near Bordelonville

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

  1. Av-198Nitrate · 2200 ft
  2. Av-186Nitrate · 2200 ft
  3. Deselles Food CenterUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
  4. Myrlin One StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
  5. Av-25Nitrate · 2500 ft
  6. Av-285Nitrate · 0.5 mi
  7. Av-19Nitrate · 0.6 mi
  8. Bordelon's Lil Ole StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  9. Av-61Nitrate · 0.6 mi
  10. Av-188Nitrate · 1.2 mi
  11. James GuillotUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.0 mi
  12. Bordelon's One StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.1 mi

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

Measured from Bordelonville'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 Bordelonville.

Total Sites

265

within ~10 miles of Bordelonville

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Bordelonville

High4Moderate119Low142

Highest-Severity Sites

Brouillette Water System INC
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Marksville Water System
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Fifth Ward Water System
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of La
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Av-152
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Bordelonville, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Bordelonville — PFAS (4 sites) and Nitrate (94 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.

PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Bordelonville

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 Bordelonville average

Your land is one point inside Bordelonville

Everything above resolves to Bordelonville as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Avoyelles Parish’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 Bordelonville Average

Bordelonville Average

  • USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Bordelonville
  • One soil character for all of Bordelonville
  • Frost dates read at Bordelonville's scale: Feb 6 to Dec 6

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Bordelonville's 9a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Bordelonville

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Bordelonville averages 303Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Bordelonville

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 Avoyelles Parish’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 Bordelonville

When does frost risk typically end in Bordelonville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Bordelonville typically lands around Feb 6, 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 Feb 27.

When is the first frost in Bordelonville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Bordelonville typically arrives around Dec 6, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 22, so the watching starts about Nov 6 — about 303 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Bordelonville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Bordelonville sees about 303 frost-free days — roughly Feb 6 through Dec 6, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 27 to Nov 22, about 268 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Bordelonville?

The federal record around Bordelonville is a meaningful one — 265 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (116), the nearest Nitrate 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 Bordelonville?

From about Nov 6 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 6 (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 6. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Bordelonville's scale — its 9a band and its 303-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Bordelonville'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 Bordelonville’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Bordelonville's own scale — the 2,783 acres it covers and 265 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Bordelonville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 265 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Bordelonville, the closest Nitrate record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Bordelonville's boundary and the 2,783 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~303-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Bordelonville's own centroid, the Mississippi Alluvial PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Bordelonville has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Avoyelles Parish
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Bordelonville's 2,783 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Avoyelles County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Avoyelles County
  • The growing challenges every Louisiana grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Louisiana
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Avoyelles County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Bordelonville's 2,783 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Bordelonville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,783 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate 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 Bordelonville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address