Pope, Mississippi, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a — 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 Pope, 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 Pope 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 Pope — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Pope — the short answer
Pope, Mississippi: USDA zone 8a, about 245 days between hard freezes, across 928 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 13
- Panola County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 13
- Panola County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~245
- Panola County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 928 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 Panola County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8a is Pope's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Pope's 245-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Pope
Each reading below is measured for Pope itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsPope runs about 245 days between hard freezes (read from Panola County, the closest normal to Pope) — 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
MeasuredPope sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a.
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 Pope is in
Pope sits in the Mississippi Valley Loess Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Pope's own centroid rather than borrowed from Panola County.
What Grows in Pope
Every plant below cleared Pope's own zone 8a and its 245-day season. Each card opens that plant's Mississippi profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Pope?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 13; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 13 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 13 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the season winds down slowly: late sowings, a real autumn harvest, and garlic in the ground before the first hard freeze.
What's on the federal record near Pope
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Pope. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- D & M One StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- Gurley's Two Way Quick StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- 107V0006 PANOLANitrate · 2500 ft
- Harrelson's GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- Dean's Kountry KitchenUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.1 mi
- Golden Pantry (Zaina Inc)Underground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- Moore's Oil CompanyUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- Dale Moore's GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
- Crossroads GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.2 mi
- Farmer's DeliUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.5 mi
- 107U0001 PANOLANitrate · 3.6 mi
- Last StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.7 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Pope'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 Pope.
Total Sites
166
within ~10 miles of Pope
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Pope
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Pope
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Pope, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Pope — Toxics Release Inventory (14 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (103 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
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 Pope
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 Pope average
Your land is one point inside Pope
Everything above resolves to Pope as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 928 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Panola 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 Pope Average
Pope Average
- ●USDA Zones 8a, averaged across Pope
- ●One soil character for all of Pope
- ●Frost dates read at Pope's scale: Mar 13 to Nov 13
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Pope's 8a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Pope
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Pope, Mississippi — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Pope averages can't show:
We read public map data around Pope — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Pope average
How we know this about Pope
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 Panola 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 Pope
When does frost risk typically end in Pope?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Pope typically lands around Mar 13, 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 3.
When is the first frost in Pope?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Pope typically arrives around Nov 13, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 30, so the watching starts about Oct 14 — about 245 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Pope?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Pope sees about 245 frost-free days — roughly Mar 13 through Nov 13, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 3 to Oct 30, about 210 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Pope?
The federal record around Pope is a meaningful one — 166 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (103), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Pope?
From about Oct 14 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 13 (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 13. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Pope's scale — its 8a band and its 245-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Pope'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 Pope’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Pope's own scale — the 928 acres it covers and 166 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Pope's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 166 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Pope, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Pope's boundary and the 928 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8a and a ~245-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Pope's own centroid, the Mississippi Valley Loess PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Pope has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Panola County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Pope's 928 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Panola County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Panola 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 Panola County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Pope's 928 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Pope you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 928 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Pope-wide figureread your own land →
More in Mississippi
Wider growing context
What grows across MississippiPope sits outside our named growing regions, so Mississippi as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides