Schlater, 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.
Expect cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens to be strong candidates here; the deciding factors on any one parcel stay local — soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Schlater, 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 Schlater 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 Schlater — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Schlater — the short answer
Schlater, Mississippi: USDA zone 8b, about 283 days between hard freezes, across 739 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
- 739 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 Schlater's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Schlater's 283-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Schlater
Each reading below is measured for Schlater itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsSchlater runs about 283 days between hard freezes (read from Leflore County, the closest normal to Schlater) — 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
MeasuredSchlater 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 Schlater is in
Schlater sits in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Schlater's own centroid rather than borrowed from Leflore County.
What Grows in Schlater
Every plant below cleared Schlater'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 Schlater?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. 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 Schlater
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Schlater. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Minter City StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 750 ft
- 083C0011 LEFLORENitrate · 800 ft
- Schlater Maintenance FacilityUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
- Quick StopUnderground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
- Lee Russell GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- Jones & Gardner Service StationUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- Sunnyside SchoolUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.8 mi
- Minter City Maintenance FacilityUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.8 mi
- Wayne Herbert GroceryUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- R T WadeUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.0 mi
- 083C0002 LEFLORENitrate · 5.5 mi
- 083F0004 LEFLORENitrate · 5.8 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Schlater'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 Schlater.
Total Sites
58
within ~10 miles of Schlater
Risk Level
Moderate
Highest-severity
3 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Schlater
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Schlater
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Schlater, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 22 sites within ~10 miles of Schlater. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Schlater
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 Schlater average
Your land is one point inside Schlater
Everything above resolves to Schlater as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 739 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 Schlater Average
Schlater Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Schlater
- ●One soil character for all of Schlater
- ●Frost dates read at Schlater's scale: Feb 21 to Dec 1
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Schlater's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Schlater
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Schlater, Mississippi — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Schlater averages can't show:
We read public map data around Schlater — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Schlater average
How we know this about Schlater
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 Schlater
When does frost risk typically end in Schlater?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Schlater 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 Schlater?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Schlater 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 Schlater?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Schlater 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 Schlater?
The federal record around Schlater shows 58 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (32), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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 Schlater?
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 Schlater's scale — its 8b band and its 283-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Schlater'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 Schlater’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Schlater's own scale — the 739 acres it covers and 58 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Schlater's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 58 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Schlater, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Schlater's boundary and the 739 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 Schlater's own centroid, the Mississippi Alluvial PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Schlater 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 Schlater's 739 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 Schlater's 739 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Schlater you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 739 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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 Schlater-wide figureread your own land →