Lake, Mississippi, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
Among the crops suited to this profile: cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.
Even in Lake, 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 Lake 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 Lake — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Lake — the short answer
Lake, Mississippi: USDA zone 8b, about 268 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 27
- Newton County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 22
- Newton County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~268
- Newton County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 3K 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 Newton County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Lake's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Lake's 268-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Lake
Each reading below is measured for Lake itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsLake runs about 268 days between hard freezes (read from Newton County, the closest normal to Lake) — 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
MeasuredLake 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 Lake is in
Lake sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Lake's own centroid rather than borrowed from Newton County.
What Grows in Lake
Every plant below cleared Lake's own zone 8b and its 268-day season. Each card opens that plant's Mississippi profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Lake?
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 Jan 30; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 27 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 22 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the calendar nearly circles: cool-season crops take the winter shift, and the next window is always close.
What's on the federal record near Lake
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Lake. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- PECO FOODS INCToxics Release Inventory · 0.7 mi
- Bst Lake Co 74144Underground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- MONSANTO COMPANYBrownfields · 1.2 mi
- Vance's Shell StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- The Hornets NestUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- Express Lane Travel CenterUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- Love's Travel Stop # 639Underground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- I-20 MM95 HYDRAZINE RELEASESuperfund · 2.6 mi
- Tarvin GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.4 mi
- Goodhope IgaUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.6 mi
- B & W JrUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.8 mi
- J A HarmonUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.2 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Lake'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 Lake.
Total Sites
123
within ~10 miles of Lake
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Lake
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Lake
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Lake, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Lake — Toxics Release Inventory (9 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (85 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Lake
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 Lake average
Your land is one point inside Lake
Everything above resolves to Lake as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Newton County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’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 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 Lake Average
Lake Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Lake
- ●One soil character for all of Lake
- ●Frost dates read at Lake's scale: Feb 27 to Nov 22
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Lake's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Lake
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Lake, Mississippi — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Lake averages can't show:
We read public map data around Lake — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Lake average
How we know this about Lake
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 Newton 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 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 Lake
When does frost risk typically end in Lake?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Lake typically lands around Feb 27, 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 20.
When is the first frost in Lake?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Lake typically arrives around Nov 22, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 8, so the watching starts about Oct 23 — about 268 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Lake?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Lake sees about 268 frost-free days — roughly Feb 27 through Nov 22, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 20 to Nov 8, about 233 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Lake?
The federal record around Lake is a meaningful one — 123 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (85), the nearest Toxics Release Inventory record about 0.7 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 Lake?
From about Oct 23 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 22 (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 22. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Lake's scale — its 8b band and its 268-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Lake'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 Lake’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Lake's own scale — the 3,236 acres it covers and 123 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Lake's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 123 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Lake, the closest Toxics Release Inventory record about 0.7 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Lake's boundary and the 3,236 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~268-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Lake's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Lake has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Newton County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Lake's 3,236 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Newton County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Newton 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 Newton County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Lake's 3,236 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Lake you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 3,236 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Toxics Release Inventory record about 0.7 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 Lake-wide figureread your own land →
More in Mississippi
Wider growing context
What grows across MississippiLake sits outside our named growing regions, so Mississippi as a whole is its closest context here.