What Grows in Mangham, Louisiana

USDA Zones 8b · 712 acres

Mangham, Louisiana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

These conditions suit cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Mangham — the short answer

Mangham, Louisiana: USDA zone 8b, about 289 days between hard freezes, across 712 acres of town.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 14
Richland Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 30
Richland Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~289
Richland Parish normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
712 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 Richland 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 Mangham's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Mangham's 289-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Mangham

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

Season length

From county records

Mangham runs about 289 days between hard freezes (read from Richland Parish, the closest normal to Mangham) — 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

Mangham 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 Mangham is in

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

What that means for soil

What Grows in Mangham

Every plant below cleared Mangham's own zone 8b and its 289-day season. Each card opens that plant's Louisiana profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in LouisianaZones 2–11Mangham's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Louisiana fig guideZones 6–10Mangham's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in LouisianaZones 6–10Mangham's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Louisiana growing notesZones 2–11Mangham's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in LouisianaZones 7–10Mangham's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Louisiana rosemary guideZones 8–10Mangham's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in LouisianaZones 2–11Mangham's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate: Louisiana growing notesZones 7–10Mangham's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in LouisianaZones 5–8Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Louisiana lentil guideZones 2–11Mangham's 289 days clear the ~70 it needs.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in LouisianaZones 5–10Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Louisiana growing notesZones 2–12Mangham's 289 days clear the ~50 it needs.
almond, photograph
Growing almond in LouisianaZones 5–9Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Louisiana potato guideZones 2–11Mangham's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in LouisianaZones 3–11Mangham's 289 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Louisiana growing notesZones 3–10Mangham's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in LouisianaZones 2–11Mangham's 289 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Louisiana apache plume guideZones 5–11Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in LouisianaZones 3–8Mangham's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Louisiana growing notesZones 3–8Mangham's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in LouisianaMangham's 289 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Louisiana holly guideZones 5–11Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in LouisianaZones 7–10Mangham's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Louisiana growing notesZones 6–8Mangham's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in LouisianaZones 5–11Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
Louisiana pearl millet guideZones 5–11Mangham's 289 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in LouisianaZones 5–11Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Louisiana growing notesZones 4–10Mangham's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in LouisianaZones 2–11Mangham's 289 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Louisiana liriope guideZones 5–11Mangham's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Mangham?

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 17; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 14 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 30 — 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 Mangham

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

  1. Ri-19Nitrate · 900 ft
  2. Ri-4Nitrate · 900 ft
  3. G C PardueUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  4. Bill & Jim BruceUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  5. J C EtierUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  6. Jones GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  7. Wahl's GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  8. Roy WestonUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  9. Pailette GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  10. Robert BroughtonUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  11. Larry HarwellUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  12. Mangham U Pak ItUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft

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

Measured from Mangham'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 Mangham.

Total Sites

143

within ~10 miles of Mangham

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

2 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Mangham

High1Moderate87Low55

Highest-Severity Sites

Rayville Water System
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Circle K #7782
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Fast Gas #3 LLC
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Four Forks Grocery
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Mangham U Pak It
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Mangham, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 74 sites within ~10 miles of Mangham. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about 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 Mangham

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 Mangham average

Your land is one point inside Mangham

Everything above resolves to Mangham as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 712 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Richland 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 Mangham Average

Mangham Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Mangham
  • One soil character for all of Mangham
  • Frost dates read at Mangham's scale: Feb 14 to Nov 30

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Mangham

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Mangham averages 289Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Mangham

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 Richland 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 Mangham

When does frost risk typically end in Mangham?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Mangham typically lands around Feb 14, 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 7.

When is the first frost in Mangham?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Mangham typically arrives around Nov 30, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 16, so the watching starts about Oct 31 — about 289 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Mangham?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Mangham sees about 289 frost-free days — roughly Feb 14 through Nov 30, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 7 to Nov 16, about 254 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Mangham?

The federal record around Mangham shows 143 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (74), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.2 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.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Mangham?

From about Oct 31 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 30 (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 30. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Mangham's scale — its 8b band and its 289-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Mangham'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 Mangham’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Mangham's own scale — the 712 acres it covers and 143 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Mangham's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 143 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Mangham, the closest Nitrate record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Mangham's boundary and the 712 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~289-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Mangham's own centroid, the Mississippi Alluvial PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Mangham has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Richland Parish
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Mangham's 712 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Richland County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Richland 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 Richland County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Mangham's 712 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Mangham you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 712 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate 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 Mangham-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address