Itta Bena, Mississippi, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
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 Itta Bena, 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 Itta Bena 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 Itta Bena — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Itta Bena — the short answer
Itta Bena, Mississippi: USDA zone 8b, about 283 days between hard freezes, across 903 acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 21
- Leflore County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 1
- Leflore County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~283
- Leflore County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- City area
- 903 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 Leflore County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Itta Bena's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Itta Bena's 283-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Itta Bena
Each reading below is measured for Itta Bena itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsItta Bena runs about 283 days between hard freezes (read from Leflore County, the closest normal to Itta Bena) — 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
MeasuredItta Bena 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 Itta Bena is in
Itta Bena sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Itta Bena's own centroid rather than borrowed from Leflore County.
What Grows in Itta Bena
Every plant below cleared Itta Bena's own zone 8b and its 283-day season. Each card opens that plant's Mississippi profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Itta Bena?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 24; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 21 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 1 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.
What's on the federal record near Itta Bena
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Itta Bena. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Bst Itta Bena 73139Underground Storage Tanks · 1300 ft
- Double Quick #42Underground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
- Virginia B SaynerUnderground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
- Royalty Community StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- Scott Petroleum CorporationUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
- Quick 7 Star 2Underground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
- Bennett Gulf StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- Murphey Brothers Farm HqUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- Police DepartmentUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- Itta Bena Maintenance FacilityUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- 083K0009 LEFLORENitrate · 0.7 mi
- Leflore County High SchoolUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Itta Bena'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 Itta Bena.
Total Sites
229
within ~10 miles of Itta Bena
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
14 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Itta Bena
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Itta Bena
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Itta Bena, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Itta Bena — Underground Storage Tanks (156 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (14 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Itta Bena
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 Itta Bena average
Your land is one point inside Itta Bena
Everything above resolves to Itta Bena as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 903 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Leflore 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 Itta Bena Average
Itta Bena Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Itta Bena
- ●One soil character for all of Itta Bena
- ●Frost dates read at Itta Bena's scale: Feb 21 to Dec 1
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Itta Bena's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Itta Bena
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Itta Bena, Mississippi — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Itta Bena averages can't show:
We read public map data around Itta Bena — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Itta Bena average
How we know this about Itta Bena
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 Leflore 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 Itta Bena
When does frost risk typically end in Itta Bena?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Itta Bena typically lands around Feb 21, 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 14.
When is the first frost in Itta Bena?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Itta Bena typically arrives around Dec 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 17, so the watching starts about Nov 1 — about 283 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Itta Bena?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Itta Bena sees about 283 frost-free days — roughly Feb 21 through Dec 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 14 to Nov 17, about 248 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Itta Bena?
The federal record around Itta Bena is a meaningful one — 229 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (156), 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 Itta Bena?
From about Nov 1 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 1 (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 1. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Itta Bena's scale — its 8b band and its 283-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Itta Bena'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 Itta Bena’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Itta Bena's own scale — the 903 acres it covers and 229 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Itta Bena's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 229 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Itta Bena, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Itta Bena's boundary and the 903 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~283-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Itta Bena's own centroid, the Mississippi Alluvial PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Itta Bena has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Leflore County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Itta Bena's 903 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Leflore County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Leflore 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 Leflore County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Itta Bena's 903 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Itta Bena you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 903 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 Itta Bena-wide figureread your own land →