Hattiesburg, Mississippi, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.
Even in Hattiesburg, 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 Hattiesburg 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 Hattiesburg — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Hattiesburg — the short answer
Hattiesburg, Mississippi: USDA zone 8b, about 288 days between hard freezes, across 34K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 17
- Forrest County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 2
- Forrest County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~288
- Forrest County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- City area
- 34K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Forrest County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Hattiesburg's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Hattiesburg's 288-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Hattiesburg
Each reading below is measured for Hattiesburg itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsHattiesburg runs about 288 days between hard freezes (read from Forrest County, the closest normal to Hattiesburg) — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredHattiesburg sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
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 Hattiesburg is in
Hattiesburg sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Hattiesburg's own centroid rather than borrowed from Forrest County.
What Grows in Hattiesburg
Every plant below cleared Hattiesburg's own zone 8b and its 288-day season. Each card opens that plant's Mississippi profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Hattiesburg?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 20; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 17 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 2 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With almost year-round growing weather, timing is about heat and rainfall more than frost — some bench is always in play.
What's on the federal record near Hattiesburg
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Hattiesburg. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Jr Food #113Underground Storage Tanks · 850 ft
- WALMART SUPERCENTER #2717Brownfields · 1100 ft
- Phillips 66Underground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
- MAACOBrownfields · 1300 ft
- AUTO CLINICBrownfields · 1500 ft
- Albertson's Express #2785Underground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- Amoco Food Store #513Underground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
- Mississippi Materials CompanyUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
- L & S Express LLCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1700 ft
- MMC MATERIALS INCToxics Release Inventory · 1700 ft
- Red Arrow Car Wash #108Underground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- Southern Beverage Of HattiesburgUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Hattiesburg'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 Hattiesburg.
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Hattiesburg
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Hattiesburg
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Hattiesburg, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Hattiesburg — PFAS (6 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (33 sites). 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.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Hattiesburg
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 Hattiesburg average
Your land is one point inside Hattiesburg
Everything above resolves to Hattiesburg as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 34K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Forrest County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this city’s own centroid. 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 Hattiesburg Average
Hattiesburg Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Hattiesburg
- ●One soil character for all of Hattiesburg
- ●Frost dates read at Hattiesburg's scale: Feb 17 to Dec 2
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Hattiesburg's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Hattiesburg
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Hattiesburg, Mississippi — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Hattiesburg averages can't show:
We read public map data around Hattiesburg — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Hattiesburg average
How we know this about Hattiesburg
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 Forrest County’s record, because none resolves here; 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 Hattiesburg
When does frost risk typically end in Hattiesburg?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Hattiesburg typically lands around Feb 17, 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 Mar 10.
When is the first frost in Hattiesburg?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Hattiesburg typically arrives around Dec 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 18, so the watching starts about Nov 2 — about 288 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Hattiesburg?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Hattiesburg sees about 288 frost-free days — roughly Feb 17 through Dec 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 10 to Nov 18, about 253 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Hattiesburg?
The federal record around Hattiesburg is a meaningful one — 534 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (322), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Hattiesburg?
From about Nov 2 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 Dec 2 (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 Dec 2. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Hattiesburg's scale — its 8b band and its 288-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Hattiesburg'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 Hattiesburg’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Hattiesburg's own scale — the 34,202 acres it covers and 534 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Hattiesburg's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 534 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Hattiesburg, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Hattiesburg's boundary and the 34,202 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~288-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Hattiesburg's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Hattiesburg has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Forrest County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Hattiesburg's 34,202 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Forrest County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Forrest 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 Forrest County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Hattiesburg's 34,202 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Hattiesburg you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 34,202 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Hattiesburg-wide figureread your own land →
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