What Grows in Kingsville, Maryland

USDA Zones 7b · 6K acres

Kingsville, Maryland, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, prickly pear, california poppy, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Kingsville — the short answer

Kingsville, Maryland: USDA zone 7b, about 242 days between hard freezes, across 6K acres of town.

USDA zone
7b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 23
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 20
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~242
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
6K 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 Kingsville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Kingsville's 242-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Kingsville

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

Season length

Measured

Kingsville runs about 242 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

Kingsville 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 Kingsville is in

Kingsville sits in the Northern Piedmont — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Kingsville's own centroid rather than borrowed from Baltimore County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Kingsville

Every plant below cleared Kingsville's own zone 7b and its 242-day season. Each card opens that plant's Maryland profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in MarylandZones 2–11Kingsville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Maryland prickly pear guideZones 5–10Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in MarylandZones 6–10Kingsville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Maryland growing notesZones 2–11Kingsville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Growing fig in MarylandZones 6–10Kingsville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Maryland lavender guideZones 5–8Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in MarylandZones 2–10Kingsville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
grape, photograph
Grape: Maryland growing notesZones 6–9Kingsville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in MarylandKingsville's 242 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Maryland kale guideZones 2–11Kingsville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut in MarylandZones 4–9Kingsville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Maryland growing notesZones 2–11Kingsville's 242 days clear the ~70 it needs.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in MarylandZones 5–9Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Maryland okra guideZones 2–12Kingsville's 242 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in MarylandZones 2–11Kingsville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Maryland growing notesZones 3–10Kingsville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in MarylandZones 2–11Kingsville's 242 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Maryland apache plume guideZones 5–11Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in MarylandZones 3–8Kingsville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Maryland growing notesZones 3–8Kingsville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in MarylandKingsville's 242 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Maryland holly guideZones 5–11Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in MarylandZones 3–9Kingsville's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Maryland growing notesZones 6–8Kingsville's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in MarylandZones 4–10Kingsville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Maryland ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Kingsville's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in MarylandZones 2–7Kingsville's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: Maryland growing notesZones 5–11Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in MarylandZones 5–10Kingsville's 242 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Maryland ajuga guideZones 5–11Kingsville's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Kingsville?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 20 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With a season this long, “too late” mostly means “switch crops” — second sowings and a full fall garden are the norm, with garlic closing the year.

Documented around Kingsville

Spotted lanternfly documented 2 miles from Kingsville, first recorded 2019. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Kingsville

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

  1. HNS DevelopmentUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
  2. BA Df 356Nitrate · 0.6 mi
  3. E. F. Lassahn Funeral HomeUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  4. Kingsville Motors, Inc.Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  5. BA Df 22Nitrate · 0.7 mi
  6. JSI AutomotiveUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  7. KINGSVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  8. Bush Creek Pumping StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  9. Kingsville Vol. Fire Co.Underground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  10. BA Dg 120Nitrate · 1.1 mi
  11. BA Df 53Nitrate · 1.2 mi
  12. BA Df 351Nitrate · 1.2 mi

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

Measured from Kingsville'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 Kingsville.

Total Sites

1,908

within ~10 miles of Kingsville

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

11 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Kingsville

High2Moderate695Low1,211

Highest-Severity Sites

20400 Eastern Commercial LLC
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
20603 Woodcroft Exxon
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
25019 Towson Towne Exxon
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
25047 Towson Park Exxon
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
25748 Back River Exxon
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

Know Before You Grow

  • Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
  • Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
  • On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Kingsville

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 Kingsville average

Your land is one point inside Kingsville

Everything above resolves to Kingsville as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 6K 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 Kingsville Average

Kingsville Average

  • USDA Zones 7b, averaged across Kingsville
  • One soil character for all of Kingsville
  • Frost dates read at Kingsville's scale: Mar 23 to Nov 20

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Kingsville

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Kingsville averages 242Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Kingsville

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 Kingsville’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 Kingsville

When does frost risk typically end in Kingsville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Kingsville typically lands around Mar 23, 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 13.

When is the first frost in Kingsville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Kingsville typically arrives around Nov 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 6, so the watching starts about Oct 21 — about 242 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Kingsville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Kingsville sees about 242 frost-free days — roughly Mar 23 through Nov 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 13 to Nov 6, about 207 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Kingsville?

The federal record around Kingsville is a meaningful one — 1,908 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (787), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 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 Kingsville?

From about Oct 21 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 20 (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 20. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Kingsville's scale — its 7b band and its 242-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Kingsville'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 Kingsville’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Kingsville's own scale — its own ~242-day season between 28°F freezes, the 6,424 acres it covers and 1,908 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Kingsville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Kingsville's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 23 and Nov 20 and the ~242-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 1,908 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Kingsville, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Kingsville's boundary and the 6,424 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7b and a ~242-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Kingsville's own centroid, the Northern PiedmontUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Kingsvillelydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Kingsville's 6,424 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Baltimore County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Baltimore 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 Baltimore County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Kingsville's 6,424 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Kingsville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 6,424 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 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 Kingsville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address