What Grows in Bishopville, Maryland

USDA Zones 7b · 2K acres

Bishopville, Maryland, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

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

Score your parcel · free

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

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Bishopville — the short answer

Bishopville, Maryland: USDA zone 7b, about 239 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.

USDA zone
7b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 24
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 18
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~239
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
2K 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

7b7b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7b is Bishopville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Bishopville's 239-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Bishopville

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

Season length

Measured

Bishopville runs about 239 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

Bishopville sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b.

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 Bishopville is in

Bishopville sits in the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Bishopville's own centroid rather than borrowed from Worcester County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Bishopville

Every plant below cleared Bishopville's own zone 7b and its 239-day season. Each card opens that plant's Maryland profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in MarylandZones 2–11Bishopville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Maryland prickly pear guideZones 5–10Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in MarylandZones 6–10Bishopville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Maryland growing notesZones 2–11Bishopville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Growing fig in MarylandZones 6–10Bishopville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Maryland lavender guideZones 5–8Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in MarylandZones 2–10Bishopville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
grape, photograph
Grape: Maryland growing notesZones 6–9Bishopville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in MarylandBishopville's 239 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Maryland kale guideZones 2–11Bishopville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut in MarylandZones 4–9Bishopville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Maryland growing notesZones 2–11Bishopville's 239 days clear the ~70 it needs.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in MarylandZones 5–9Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Maryland okra guideZones 2–12Bishopville's 239 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in MarylandZones 2–11Bishopville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Maryland growing notesZones 3–10Bishopville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in MarylandZones 2–11Bishopville's 239 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Maryland apache plume guideZones 5–11Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in MarylandZones 3–8Bishopville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Maryland growing notesZones 3–8Bishopville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in MarylandBishopville's 239 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Maryland holly guideZones 5–11Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in MarylandZones 3–9Bishopville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Maryland growing notesZones 6–8Bishopville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in MarylandZones 4–10Bishopville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Maryland ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Bishopville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in MarylandZones 2–7Bishopville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: Maryland growing notesZones 5–11Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in MarylandZones 5–10Bishopville's 239 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Maryland ajuga guideZones 5–11Bishopville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Bishopville?

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 Feb 24; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 24 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 18 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. There is slack in a calendar like this — late plantings, second rounds of favorites, and a fall bench that keeps beds working.

Documented around Bishopville

Spotted lanternfly documented 8 miles from Bishopville, first recorded 2022. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Bishopville

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

  1. CLINTON W. DAVIDSON/REJACO FARMCAFO · 1600 ft
  2. MDOT SHA BRIDGE # 2301300Brownfields · 2400 ft
  3. DDD Enterprises, LLCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  4. Clarence HammondUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  5. The Bishopville Store Co.Underground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  6. WO Af 31Nitrate · 0.9 mi
  7. WO Af 30Nitrate · 0.9 mi
  8. WO Af 32Nitrate · 0.9 mi
  9. BISHOP FEED MILLToxics Release Inventory · 0.9 mi
  10. WO Af 23Nitrate · 1.1 mi
  11. PERDUE FARMS, INC.-BISHOPVILLEBrownfields · 1.1 mi
  12. Perdue Farms Bishopville HatcheryUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi

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

Measured from Bishopville'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 Bishopville.

Total Sites

778

within ~10 miles of Bishopville

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Bishopville

High6Moderate378Low394

Highest-Severity Sites

Ocean Pines
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Town of Berlin
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Town of Ocean City
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
65th Street Fuel Station
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
7-Eleven #19283
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Bishopville, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Bishopville — CAFO (61 sites) and Nitrate (312 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.

CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.

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

Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.

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 Bishopville

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 Bishopville average

Your land is one point inside Bishopville

Everything above resolves to Bishopville as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 2K 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 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 Bishopville Average

Bishopville Average

  • USDA Zones 7b, averaged across Bishopville
  • One soil character for all of Bishopville
  • Frost dates read at Bishopville's scale: Mar 24 to Nov 18

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Bishopville

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Bishopville averages 239Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Bishopville

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 Bishopville’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 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 Bishopville

When does frost risk typically end in Bishopville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Bishopville typically lands around Mar 24, 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 14.

When is the first frost in Bishopville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Bishopville typically arrives around Nov 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 4, so the watching starts about Oct 19 — about 239 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Bishopville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Bishopville sees about 239 frost-free days — roughly Mar 24 through Nov 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 14 to Nov 4, about 204 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Bishopville?

The federal record around Bishopville is a meaningful one — 778 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (324), the nearest CAFO record about 0.3 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 Bishopville?

From about Oct 19 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 18 (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 18. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Bishopville's scale — its 7b band and its 239-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Bishopville'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 Bishopville’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Bishopville's own scale — its own ~239-day season between 28°F freezes, the 1,832 acres it covers and 778 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Bishopville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Bishopville's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 24 and Nov 18 and the ~239-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 778 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Bishopville, the closest CAFO record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Bishopville's boundary and the 1,832 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7b and a ~239-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Bishopville's own centroid, the Middle Atlantic Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Bishopvillelydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Bishopville's 1,832 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Worcester County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Worcester County
  • The growing challenges every Maryland grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Maryland
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Worcester County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Bishopville's 1,832 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Bishopville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,832 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest CAFO record about 0.3 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 Bishopville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address