What Grows in Spring Park, Minnesota

USDA Zones 4b · 226 acres

Spring Park, Minnesota, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.

The conditions favor cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, 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 Spring Park, 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 Spring Park 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 Spring Park — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

No card required · your full report in seconds

Spring Park — the short answer

Spring Park, Minnesota: USDA zone 4b, about 193 days between hard freezes, across 226 acres of city.

USDA zone
4b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 14
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 24
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~193
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
226 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

4b4b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 4b is Spring Park's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Spring Park's 193-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Spring Park

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

Season length

Measured

Spring Park runs about 193 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.

There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.

Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Spring Park sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b.

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 Spring Park is in

Spring Park sits in the North Central Hardwood Forests — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Spring Park's own centroid rather than borrowed from Hennepin County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Spring Park

Every plant below cleared Spring Park's own zone 4b and its 193-day season. Each card opens that plant's Minnesota profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in MinnesotaZones 2–11Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Minnesota cranberry guideZones 2–7Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Turkish rocket in MinnesotaSpring Park's 193 days clear the ~90 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Minnesota growing notesZones 2–11Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Growing blueberry in MinnesotaZones 3–8Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
calendula, photograph
Minnesota calendula guideZones 2–11Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~120 it needs.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in MinnesotaZones 2–10Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut: Minnesota growing notesZones 4–9Spring Park's 4b is its exact cold limit.
cilantro, photograph
Growing cilantro in MinnesotaZones 2–11Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~35 it needs.
kale, photograph
Minnesota kale guideZones 2–11Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
apple, photograph
Apple in MinnesotaZones 3–8Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Minnesota growing notesZones 2–11Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in MinnesotaZones 2–12Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Minnesota potato guideZones 2–11Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
rhubarb, photograph
Rhubarb in MinnesotaZones 2–8Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~60 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Minnesota growing notesZones 3–8Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in MinnesotaZones 2–11Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Minnesota azalea guideZones 4–8Spring Park's 4b is its exact cold limit.
hops, photograph
Hops in MinnesotaZones 3–8Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Minnesota growing notesZones 3–10Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in MinnesotaSpring Park's 193 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Minnesota lilac guideZones 4–10Spring Park's 4b is its exact cold limit.
riverbank grape, photograph
Riverbank grape in MinnesotaZones 2–8Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Siberian squill, photograph
Siberian squill: Minnesota growing notesZones 2–8Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Growing blue spruce in MinnesotaZones 2–8Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Minnesota alfalfa guideZones 2–10Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in MinnesotaZones 2–7Spring Park's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
American elm: Minnesota growing notesZones 3–9Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
field pea, photograph
Growing field pea in MinnesotaZones 2–10Spring Park's 193 days clear the ~60 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Minnesota canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Spring Park's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Spring Park?

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 Mar 17; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 14 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 24 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.

What's on the federal record near Spring Park

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

  1. MODIFIED ENCLOSURES INCBrownfields · 250 ft
  2. SAFETY RAIL CO LLCToxics Release Inventory · 250 ft
  3. PAGEL-USABrownfields · 500 ft
  4. NAPA AUTO PARTS - SPRING PARKBrownfields · 500 ft
  5. Shoreline BPUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
  6. Sheriff Water PatrolUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
  7. Rockvam Boat Yards IncUnderground Storage Tanks · 650 ft
  8. MEISEL HARDWARE SPECIALTIESBrownfields · 650 ft
  9. NORLINGS LAKE MINNETONKA LANDSCAPESBrownfields · 750 ft
  10. SPRING PARK MUNICIPAL WELL FIELDSuperfund · 850 ft
  11. Connor's Car WashUnderground Storage Tanks · 850 ft
  12. INDUSTRIAL FLOOR MAINTANCEBrownfields · 1000 ft

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

Measured from Spring Park'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 Spring Park.

Total Sites

2,176

within ~10 miles of Spring Park

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

2 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Spring Park

High10Moderate316Low1,850

Highest-Severity Sites

Minnetrista
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Mound
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Plymouth, Mn
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Spring Park Municipal Well Field
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Shorewood
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Spring Park, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 1,600 sites within ~10 miles of Spring Park. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties where legacy soil contamination (heavy metals, PAHs, petroleum compounds) may persist.

Check EPA brownfield remediation status — many sites have completed cleanup with institutional controls.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Spring Park

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 Spring Park average

Your land is one point inside Spring Park

Everything above resolves to Spring Park as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 226 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 city 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 Spring Park Average

Spring Park Average

  • USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Spring Park
  • One soil character for all of Spring Park
  • Frost dates read at Spring Park's scale: Apr 14 to Oct 24

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Spring Park's 4b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Spring Park

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Spring Park averages 193Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Spring Park

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Spring Park’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 city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-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 Spring Park

When does frost risk typically end in Spring Park?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Spring Park typically lands around Apr 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 May 5.

When is the first frost in Spring Park?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Spring Park typically arrives around Oct 24, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 10, so the watching starts about Sep 24 — about 193 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Spring Park?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Spring Park sees about 193 frost-free days — roughly Apr 14 through Oct 24, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 5 to Oct 10, about 158 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Spring Park?

The federal record around Spring Park runs heavier than most — 2,176 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (1,600), the nearest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Spring Park?

From about Sep 24 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 Oct 24 (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 Oct 24. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Spring Park's scale — its 4b band and its 193-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Spring Park'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 Spring Park’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Spring Park's own scale — its own ~193-day season between 28°F freezes, the 226 acres it covers and 2,176 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Spring Park's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Spring Park's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 14 and Oct 24 and the ~193-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 2,176 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Spring Park, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Spring Park's boundary and the 226 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~193-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Spring Park's own centroid, the North Central Hardwood ForestsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Spring Park's 226 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Hennepin County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Hennepin County
  • The growing challenges every Minnesota grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Minnesota
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Hennepin County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Spring Park's 226 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Spring Park you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 226 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 Spring Park-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address