Mississippi spans USDA hardiness zones 7b-9a, with a growing season of about 220 frost-free days — a season with slack in it: successions, late sowings, and long-maturing crops all fit.
Behind the zone label sits the real climate engine: 50-65 inches of annual rainfall, a median of roughly 5,000 growing-degree days (base 50°F), and about 600 winter chill hours for tree fruit. Expect loess, alluvial clay, sandy loam, and muck underfoot; what unites them is that their drainage, good or poor, sets the ceiling on most crops. Mississippi splits into distinct growing country: Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast, each keeping its own frost calendar. Well-matched crops include pecan, okra, muscadine grape, and magnolia, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.
Grounded inUSDA PHZM 2023•NOAA Climate Normals•USDA NRCS SSURGO•GDD aggregate (Cornell CALS)•Chill-hour aggregate (MSU Extension)•USDA hardiness sub-region map•EPA FRS•USDA PLANTS•Growable Ground suitability scoring
Mississippi spans zones 7b-9a, but your yard 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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Distinct growing regions within Mississippi — each has its own zones, soils, and signature crops.
USDA Zones
7b-9a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last Frost
Feb 28 - Mar 30
NOAA 30-yr Normals
First Frost
Oct 25 - Nov 20
NOAA 30-yr Normals
Annual Rainfall
50-65 inches
NOAA Climate Normals
Zone maps are averages across Mississippi. Your yard's slope, trees, and frost pockets shift what actually grows — see your land's exact reading.
The soil types that dominate Mississippi — how each drains decides more about crop success than almost anything else. Tap any soil to learn what it is and how to work with it.
Drainage
Good — it absorbs rain readily and holds it in reach of roots — but it erodes faster than any other soil when left bare on a slope.
What thrives
Nearly everything: corn, small grains, and the full vegetable garden thrive in loess country, which is exactly why so much of it is farmed.
See the alluvial river-profile — alluvial clay is its finest, slowest-draining fraction.
Drainage
Slow, and often sitting over a shallow water table in low-lying valley positions — the flip side of all that fertility.
What thrives
Vigorous, moisture-loving crops: corn, squash, brassicas, celery, and cane fruit all pull hard from alluvial clay. Willows and many natives thrive where it stays damp.
Drainage
Fast. The sand fraction opens the soil up, so water moves through the root zone quickly and the surface rarely stays soggy. The trade is that nutrients ride out with the water.
What thrives
Root crops love it — carrots, potatoes, radishes, and onions size up cleanly in ground they can push through. Melons, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and most herbs appreciate the warmth and the drainage.
Drainage
It holds water like a sponge by nature; farmed muck is managed with ditches and water control, and it can dry, shrink, and even blow when left bare.
What thrives
Muck is celebrated vegetable ground — onions, celery, carrots, lettuce, and greens grow to prize quality in it. Its loose, black tilth is what root and leaf crops dream of.
Soil data: USDA NRCS SSURGO · Soil types explained
Plants well-suited to Mississippi's climate, soils, and growing season — each links to its full growing profile.
The plants Mississippi put its name on — cultural emblems, not growing recommendations.
Magnolia
Magnolia
Designated 1900.
Magnolia grandiflora
Designated 1952. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in Mississippi — a real per-state range, not just a zone match. Presence is statewide, so a plant may still be uncommon in your specific county; your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the local authority.
US-native plants whose hardiness range overlaps Mississippi’s USDA zones 7b-9a but which USDA PLANTS doesn’t map to a single state range here. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map.
What an experienced grower plans around here — each one has a move.
Extreme summer heat and humidity
Run the garden on the generous spring and fall windows — and let summer belong to okra, peas, and sweet potatoes.
Heavy alluvial clay in the Delta region
Delta clay is rich but slow to drain — raised rows get roots above the wet while keeping that fertility in reach.
Frequent severe storms and flooding
Site beds on the high ground, mound the rows, and keep water moving — drainage planning is storm insurance.
For cultivar selection, pest pressure, and planting-time guidance specific to Mississippi, the Mississippi State University Extension Service is the authoritative local source.
Safe to Grow Here?What the federal record shows across Mississippi — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Mississippi — 20,263 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 118 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Mississippi carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Severity Distribution
across Mississippi
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Mississippi, PFAS runs higher than the national average — 211 sites nearby. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
State averages sketch the shape. Your soil, sun exposure, drainage, and microclimate decide what actually takes. Pull a site-specific report for your exact parcel.
Enter your address. We read your soil, sun, drainage, and frost dates, then score 1,112 plants against the real conditions on your land.
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
Mississippi spans USDA hardiness zones 7b-9a, per the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 weather data.
The last spring frost in Mississippi is typically around Feb 28 - Mar 30, and the first fall frost around Oct 25 - Nov 20, per NOAA 30-year climate normals (1991–2020). Your specific site may differ — frost dates vary by elevation, proximity to water, and local microclimate.
Mississippi's zones 7b-9a support a wide range — strong performers include Pecan, Okra, Muscadine Grape, Magnolia, and Sweet Potato. What actually takes on any one site comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage, and we score each plant against the real conditions at your address.
Officially, Mississippi spans USDA zones 7b-9a (USDA PHZM 2023) — but a zone is a 30-year average of winter's coldest night across an area, and it can't see any one yard. A south-facing slope, a tree line, or a low frost pocket can shift a single site by half a zone either way, which is why neighboring gardeners often quote different numbers. We read the conditions at your exact address — soil, sun, slope, and frost — and score 1,112 plants against what's actually there.
The federal record across Mississippi runs heavier than most — 20,263 documented sites — 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.
Start with three facts. Mississippi spans USDA zones 7b-9a, which sets what survives winter; the statewide frost window runs about Feb 28 - Mar 30 to Oct 25 - Nov 20 (NOAA 30-year climate normals); and 20,263 documented sites sit on the federal record here, so a soil test before food beds is the smart first step. From there, matching plants to your actual soil and sun is the fun part.
Everything on this page is a Mississippi average. Your yard writes its own version — we read soil, sun, drainage, and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Explore growing conditions by county — each has its own zone range and land area.
Explore growing conditions by city or town in Mississippi.
Mississippi shares its dominant growing region with these states — a useful comparison if you're weighing where a crop will behave the same way.
