The Lowcountry spans USDA hardiness zones 8b-9a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
South Carolina's humid coastal plain of tidal marsh, sandy loam, and long warm seasons — historic rice country, now figs, okra, and Lowcountry truck crops. On paper, peach, okra, muscadine grape, and palmetto all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
The Lowcountry spans South Carolina.
Your yard isn't the whole Lowcountry.
The Lowcountry spans USDA zones 8b-9a, but your parcel sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and low spots nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score 1,112 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Quick Facts
USDA Zones
8b-9a
States
1
Counties
8
Defined by
Counties
Hardiness Zone Range
What Grows in the Lowcountry
Plants matched to the Lowcountry's USDA zones 8b-9a — each links to its full growing profile.
Native Plants Suited to the Lowcountry
US-native plants (USDA PLANTS, Lower 48) whose hardiness range overlaps the Lowcountry’s USDA zones 8b-9a. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map — for plants documented native to your county, your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the authority.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across the Lowcountry — and how to grow with it.
A growing region spans many local records, and contamination is a per-place fact — not a regional verdict. Nationwide we track 1.8M documented sites across 9 federal source types; open the map outlined to the Lowcountry to see exactly what's on record where you grow.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
Your Specific Parcel Matters
the Lowcountry Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b-9a
- ●Generic soil type for the area
- ●State-average frost dates
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact hardiness zone
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in the Lowcountry
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in the Lowcountry — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, contamination, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources analyzed in seconds
Key Growing Facts for the Lowcountry
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 8b-9a (USDA PHZM 2023, aggregated across the region)
- States: South Carolina
- Counties covered: 8
- Region boundary: a cluster of neighboring counties
Zone data: USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Region boundary: curated county clusters and EPA Level III ecoregions. County boundaries: US Census TIGER/Line 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zone is the Lowcountry?
The Lowcountry spans USDA hardiness zones 8b-9a, aggregated from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 across the region's counties. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 data.
What grows well in the Lowcountry?
The Lowcountry's conditions suit plants such as Peach, Okra, Muscadine Grape, Palmetto, Fig. For site-specific recommendations scored against your parcel's soil, drainage, and sun data, run the Growable Ground report for your address.
Which states does the Lowcountry cover?
The Lowcountry spans South Carolina. Each state's full growing guide is linked below.