What Grows in Blue Mountain, Mississippi

USDA Zones 7b · 1K acres

Blue Mountain, Mississippi, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.

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 Blue Mountain, 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 Blue Mountain 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 Blue Mountain — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Blue Mountain — the short answer

Blue Mountain, Mississippi: USDA zone 7b, about 236 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of town.

USDA zone
7b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 20
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 11
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~236
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
1K 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 Blue Mountain's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Blue Mountain's 236-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Blue Mountain

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

Season length

Measured

Blue Mountain runs about 236 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

Blue Mountain 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 Blue Mountain is in

Blue Mountain sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Blue Mountain's own centroid rather than borrowed from Tippah County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Blue Mountain

Every plant below cleared Blue Mountain's own zone 7b and its 236-day season. Each card opens that plant's Mississippi profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in MississippiZones 2–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Mississippi prickly pear guideZones 5–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in MississippiZones 6–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Mississippi growing notesZones 2–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Growing fig in MississippiZones 6–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Mississippi lavender guideZones 5–8Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in MississippiZones 2–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
grape, photograph
Grape: Mississippi growing notesZones 6–9Blue Mountain's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in MississippiBlue Mountain's 236 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Mississippi kale guideZones 2–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Hazelnut in MississippiZones 4–9Blue Mountain's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Mississippi growing notesZones 2–11Blue Mountain's 236 days clear the ~70 it needs.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in MississippiZones 5–9Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Mississippi okra guideZones 2–12Blue Mountain's 236 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in MississippiZones 2–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Mississippi growing notesZones 3–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in MississippiZones 2–11Blue Mountain's 236 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Mississippi apache plume guideZones 5–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in MississippiZones 3–8Blue Mountain's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Mississippi growing notesZones 3–8Blue Mountain's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in MississippiBlue Mountain's 236 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Mississippi holly guideZones 5–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in MississippiZones 3–9Blue Mountain's 7b — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Mississippi growing notesZones 6–8Blue Mountain's 7b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in MississippiZones 4–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Mississippi ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Blue Mountain's 7b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in MississippiZones 2–7Blue Mountain's 7b — 5 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: Mississippi growing notesZones 5–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in MississippiZones 5–10Blue Mountain's 236 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Mississippi ajuga guideZones 5–11Blue Mountain's 7b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Blue Mountain?

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 20; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 11 — 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.

What's on the federal record near Blue Mountain

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

  1. 139N0012 TIPPAHNitrate · 550 ft
  2. Scott's Service StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  3. Red Line Market #2Underground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
  4. Grisham Lumber CompanyUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
  5. New Hope GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
  6. Hubs Detail ShopUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
  7. CHANNEL CONTROL MERCHANTS, LLCBrownfields · 1600 ft
  8. Blue Mountain Production CompanyUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  9. Blue Mountain TruckingUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  10. BIG M TRANSPORTATION INCToxics Release Inventory · 0.7 mi
  11. BIG M TRANSPORTATION INCBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  12. Strick's Store & GrillUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi

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

Measured from Blue Mountain'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 Blue Mountain.

Total Sites

123

within ~10 miles of Blue Mountain

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

11 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Blue Mountain

High1Moderate43Low79

Highest-Severity Sites

City of Ripley
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
139f0007 Tippah
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
139f0007 Tippah
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
139j0007 Tippah
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
139j0007 Tippah
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Blue Mountain, Toxics Release Inventory runs higher than the national average — 11 sites within ~10 miles of Blue Mountain. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.

Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Blue Mountain

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 Blue Mountain average

Your land is one point inside Blue Mountain

Everything above resolves to Blue Mountain as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 1K 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 Blue Mountain Average

Blue Mountain Average

  • USDA Zones 7b, averaged across Blue Mountain
  • One soil character for all of Blue Mountain
  • Frost dates read at Blue Mountain's scale: Mar 20 to Nov 11

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Blue Mountain

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Blue Mountain averages 236Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Blue Mountain

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 Blue Mountain’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 Blue Mountain

When does frost risk typically end in Blue Mountain?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Blue Mountain typically lands around Mar 20, 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 10.

When is the first frost in Blue Mountain?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Blue Mountain typically arrives around Nov 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 28, so the watching starts about Oct 12 — about 236 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Blue Mountain?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Blue Mountain sees about 236 frost-free days — roughly Mar 20 through Nov 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 10 to Oct 28, about 201 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Blue Mountain?

The federal record around Blue Mountain shows 123 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (71), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.1 miles out — a typical footprint for a growing area, and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. It's worth seeing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and testing the soil before new food beds near any of them.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Blue Mountain?

From about Oct 12 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 11 (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 11. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Blue Mountain's scale — its 7b band and its 236-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Blue Mountain'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 Blue Mountain’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Blue Mountain's own scale — its own ~236-day season between 28°F freezes, the 1,052 acres it covers and 123 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Blue Mountain's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Blue Mountain's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 20 and Nov 11 and the ~236-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 123 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Blue Mountain, the closest Nitrate record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Blue Mountain's boundary and the 1,052 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7b and a ~236-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Blue Mountain's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Blue Mountain's 1,052 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Tippah County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Tippah County
  • The growing challenges every Mississippi grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Mississippi
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Tippah County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Blue Mountain's 1,052 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Blue Mountain you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,052 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.1 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 Blue Mountain-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address