What Grows in Good Pine, Louisiana

USDA Zones 8b · 492 acres

Good Pine, Louisiana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.

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.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Good Pine — the short answer

Good Pine, Louisiana: USDA zone 8b, about 280 days between hard freezes, across 492 acres of town.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 21
LaSalle Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 28
LaSalle Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~280
LaSalle Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
492 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 LaSalle Parish’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

8b8b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 8b is Good Pine's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Good Pine's 280-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Good Pine

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

Season length

From county records

Good Pine runs about 280 days between hard freezes (read from LaSalle Parish, the closest normal to Good Pine) — 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

Good Pine 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 Good Pine is in

Good Pine sits in the South Central Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Good Pine's own centroid rather than borrowed from LaSalle Parish.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Good Pine

Every plant below cleared Good Pine's own zone 8b and its 280-day season. Each card opens that plant's Louisiana profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in LouisianaZones 2–11Good Pine's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Louisiana fig guideZones 6–10Good Pine's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in LouisianaZones 6–10Good Pine's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Louisiana growing notesZones 2–11Good Pine's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in LouisianaZones 7–10Good Pine's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Louisiana rosemary guideZones 8–10Good Pine's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in LouisianaZones 2–11Good Pine's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate: Louisiana growing notesZones 7–10Good Pine's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in LouisianaZones 5–8Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Louisiana lentil guideZones 2–11Good Pine's 280 days clear the ~70 it needs.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in LouisianaZones 5–10Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Louisiana growing notesZones 2–12Good Pine's 280 days clear the ~50 it needs.
almond, photograph
Growing almond in LouisianaZones 5–9Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Louisiana potato guideZones 2–11Good Pine's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in LouisianaZones 3–11Good Pine's 280 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Louisiana growing notesZones 3–10Good Pine's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in LouisianaZones 2–11Good Pine's 280 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Louisiana apache plume guideZones 5–11Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in LouisianaZones 3–8Good Pine's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Louisiana growing notesZones 3–8Good Pine's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in LouisianaGood Pine's 280 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Louisiana holly guideZones 5–11Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in LouisianaZones 7–10Good Pine's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Louisiana growing notesZones 6–8Good Pine's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in LouisianaZones 5–11Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
Louisiana pearl millet guideZones 5–11Good Pine's 280 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in LouisianaZones 5–11Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Louisiana growing notesZones 4–10Good Pine's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in LouisianaZones 2–11Good Pine's 280 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Louisiana liriope guideZones 5–11Good Pine's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Good Pine?

For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 24; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 21 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 28 — 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 Good Pine

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

  1. XTO ENERGY - TAYLOR G2 WELLBrownfields · 400 ft
  2. XTO Energy IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
  3. FORMER TULLOS LUMBER COMPANYBrownfields · 1000 ft
  4. DOLLAR GENERAL 2880Brownfields · 1400 ft
  5. LONGS BODY SHOPBrownfields · 1400 ft
  6. LaSalle General HospitalUnderground Storage Tanks · 1700 ft
  7. NALCO EXXON ENERGY CHEM JENABrownfields · 1700 ft
  8. LASALLE GENERAL HOSPITALBrownfields · 1800 ft
  9. CHAUDHRY CLINIC LLCBrownfields · 2000 ft
  10. Jena Auto IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
  11. Jena ExxonUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
  12. Thompson TexacoUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft

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

Measured from Good Pine'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 Good Pine.

Total Sites

228

within ~10 miles of Good Pine

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

3 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Good Pine

High0Moderate161Low67

Highest-Severity Sites

Airport Grocery
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Belden Wire & Cable CO
Toxics Release Inventory · 71342bldnwhwy8i
Belah Grocery
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Circle K #303
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Eastside 7-11
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Good Pine, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 138 sites within ~10 miles of Good Pine. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

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

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 Good Pine

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 Good Pine average

Your land is one point inside Good Pine

Everything above resolves to Good Pine as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 492 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from LaSalle 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 Good Pine Average

Good Pine Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Good Pine
  • One soil character for all of Good Pine
  • Frost dates read at Good Pine's scale: Feb 21 to Nov 28

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Good Pine's 8b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Good Pine

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Good Pine averages 280Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Good Pine

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 LaSalle 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 Good Pine

When does frost risk typically end in Good Pine?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Good Pine typically lands around Feb 21, 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 14.

When is the first frost in Good Pine?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Good Pine typically arrives around Nov 28, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 14, so the watching starts about Oct 29 — about 280 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Good Pine?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Good Pine sees about 280 frost-free days — roughly Feb 21 through Nov 28, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 14 to Nov 14, about 245 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Good Pine?

The federal record around Good Pine is a meaningful one — 228 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (138), the nearest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile 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 Good Pine?

From about Oct 29 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 28 (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 28. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Good Pine's scale — its 8b band and its 280-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Good Pine'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 Good Pine’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Good Pine's own scale — the 492 acres it covers and 228 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Good Pine's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 228 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Good Pine, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Good Pine's boundary and the 492 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~280-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Good Pine's own centroid, the South Central PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Good Pine has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom LaSalle Parish
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Good Pine's 492 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom LaSalle County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom LaSalle 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 LaSalle County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Good Pine's 492 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Good Pine you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 492 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile 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 Good Pine-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address