Mississippi Valley State University, Mississippi, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Growers here do well with cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.
Even in Mississippi Valley State University, 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 Mississippi Valley State University 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 Mississippi Valley State University — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Mississippi Valley State University — the short answer
Mississippi Valley State University, Mississippi: USDA zone 8b, about 283 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of town.
- 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
- Town area
- 1K 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 Mississippi Valley State University's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Mississippi Valley State University's 283-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Mississippi Valley State University
Each reading below is measured for Mississippi Valley State University itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsMississippi Valley State University runs about 283 days between hard freezes (read from Leflore County, the closest normal to Mississippi Valley State University) — 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
MeasuredMississippi Valley State University 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 Mississippi Valley State University is in
Mississippi Valley State University sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Mississippi Valley State University's own centroid rather than borrowed from Leflore County.
What Grows in Mississippi Valley State University
Every plant below cleared Mississippi Valley State University'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 Mississippi Valley State University?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. 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. 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 Mississippi Valley State University
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Mississippi Valley State University. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Lee Abraham/Former Albert's ExxonUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- Itta Bena PlantationUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
- Scott Fish FarmsUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- Double Quick #43Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- Itta Bena Maintenance FacilityUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
- Royalty Community StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.7 mi
- Bst Itta Bena 73139Underground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Double Quick #42Underground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Virginia B SaynerUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
- Scott Petroleum CorporationUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.0 mi
- Quick 7 Star 2Underground Storage Tanks · 2.0 mi
- America's CatchUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Mississippi Valley State University'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 Mississippi Valley State University.
Total Sites
195
within ~10 miles of Mississippi Valley State University
Risk Level
Moderate
Highest-severity
13 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Mississippi Valley State University
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Mississippi Valley State University
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Mississippi Valley State University, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Mississippi Valley State University — Toxics Release Inventory (13 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (125 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 Mississippi Valley State University
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 Mississippi Valley State University average
Your land is one point inside Mississippi Valley State University
Everything above resolves to Mississippi Valley State University as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 1K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Leflore 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 Mississippi Valley State University Average
Mississippi Valley State University Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Mississippi Valley State University
- ●One soil character for all of Mississippi Valley State University
- ●Frost dates read at Mississippi Valley State University's scale: Feb 21 to Dec 1
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Mississippi Valley State University's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Mississippi Valley State University
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Mississippi Valley State University, Mississippi — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Mississippi Valley State University averages can't show:
We read public map data around Mississippi Valley State University — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Mississippi Valley State University average
How we know this about Mississippi Valley State University
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 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 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 Mississippi Valley State University
When does frost risk typically end in Mississippi Valley State University?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Mississippi Valley State University 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 Mississippi Valley State University?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Mississippi Valley State University 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 Mississippi Valley State University?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Mississippi Valley State University 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 Mississippi Valley State University?
The federal record around Mississippi Valley State University shows 195 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (125), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.7 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 Mississippi Valley State University?
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 Mississippi Valley State University's scale — its 8b band and its 283-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Mississippi Valley State University'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 Mississippi Valley State University’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Mississippi Valley State University's own scale — the 1,149 acres it covers and 195 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Mississippi Valley State University's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 195 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Mississippi Valley State University, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.7 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Mississippi Valley State University's boundary and the 1,149 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 Mississippi Valley State University's own centroid, the Mississippi Alluvial PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Mississippi Valley State University 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 Mississippi Valley State University's 1,149 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 Mississippi Valley State University's 1,149 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Mississippi Valley State University you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,149 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Mississippi Valley State University-wide figureread your own land →
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