What Grows in Town and Country, Missouri

USDA Zones 7a · 7K acres

Town and Country, Missouri, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — 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, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Town and Country, 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 Town and Country 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 Town and Country — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Town and Country — the short answer

Town and Country, Missouri: USDA zone 7a, about 242 days between hard freezes, across 7K acres of city.

USDA zone
7a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 21
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 18
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~242
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
7K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

7a7a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7a is Town and Country's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Town and Country's 242-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Town and Country

Each reading below is measured for Town and Country itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Town and Country runs about 242 days between hard freezes — 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

Measured

Town and Country sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.

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 Town and Country is in

Town and Country sits in the Interior River Valleys and Hills — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Town and Country's own centroid rather than borrowed from St. Louis County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Town and Country

Every plant below cleared Town and Country's own zone 7a and its 242-day season. Each card opens that plant's Missouri profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in MissouriZones 2–11Town and Country's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Missouri hazelnut guideZones 4–9Town and Country's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in MissouriZones 6–10Town and Country's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Missouri growing notesZones 2–11Town and Country's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in MissouriZones 5–9Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Missouri lavender guideZones 5–8Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in MissouriZones 2–10Town and Country's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pecan, photograph
Pecan: Missouri growing notesZones 5–9Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Roman chamomile, photograph
Growing roman chamomile in MissouriZones 3–9Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Missouri kale guideZones 2–11Town and Country's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in MissouriZones 5–10Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Missouri growing notesZones 2–11Town and Country's 242 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Growing apple in MissouriZones 3–8Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Missouri okra guideZones 2–12Town and Country's 242 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in MissouriZones 2–11Town and Country's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Missouri growing notesZones 3–10Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in MissouriZones 2–11Town and Country's 242 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Missouri apache plume guideZones 5–11Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in MissouriZones 3–8Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Missouri growing notesZones 3–8Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in MissouriTown and Country's 242 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Missouri holly guideZones 5–11Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in MissouriZones 3–9Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Missouri growing notesZones 6–8Town and Country's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in MissouriZones 3–9Town and Country's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Missouri ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Town and Country's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in MissouriZones 2–7Town and Country's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Missouri growing notesZones 4–10Town and Country's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in MissouriZones 5–10Town and Country's 242 days clear the ~45 it needs.
Eastern gamagrass, photograph
Missouri eastern gamagrass guideZones 5–9Town and Country's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Town and Country?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 21; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 21 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 18 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.

Documented around Town and Country

Survey cells within 31 miles of Town and Country checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 248 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Town and Country

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Town and Country. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. AMOCO OIL SS #16685Underground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
  2. THE PRINCIPIAUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  3. PRINCIPIA TRACK AND FIELDBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  4. GENERAL AMERICAN INSURANCEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  5. ST LOUIS CHILDRENS SPECIALTY CARE WEST COUNTYBrownfields · 0.7 mi
  6. WO-2 KIRKWOOD, TROOP C HEADQUARTERSUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
  7. MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITYBrownfields · 1.2 mi
  8. T45N R05E 17BBA1Nitrate · 1.3 mi
  9. MARTHA SELLENRIEKUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
  10. POLICE 5Underground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
  11. QUEENY PARKUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
  12. KELLWOOD COMPANYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.6 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Town and Country'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 Town and Country.

Total Sites

2,532

within ~10 miles of Town and Country

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

20 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Town and Country

High6Moderate657Low1,869

Highest-Severity Sites

Ellisville Site
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Kirkwood Pws
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Mo American St Louis St Charles Counties
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Valley Park Tce
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Westlake Landfill
Superfund · Superfund NPL

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Town and Country, Toxics Release Inventory runs higher than the national average — 187 sites within ~10 miles of Town and Country. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.

Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Town and Country

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 Town and Country average

Your land is one point inside Town and Country

Everything above resolves to Town and Country as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 7K acres. 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 Town and Country Average

Town and Country Average

  • USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Town and Country
  • One soil character for all of Town and Country
  • Frost dates read at Town and Country's scale: Mar 21 to Nov 18

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Town and Country's 7a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Town and Country

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Town and Country, Missouri — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Town and Country averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Town and Country averages 242Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Town and Country — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Town and Country average

How we know this about Town and Country

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 Town and Country’s own record; 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 Town and Country

When does frost risk typically end in Town and Country?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Town and Country typically lands around Mar 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 Apr 11.

When is the first frost in Town and Country?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Town and Country typically arrives around Nov 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 4, so the watching starts about Oct 19 — about 242 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Town and Country?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Town and Country sees about 242 frost-free days — roughly Mar 21 through Nov 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 11 to Nov 4, about 207 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Town and Country?

The federal record around Town and Country runs heavier than most — 2,532 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (1,391), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 miles out — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Town and Country?

From about Oct 19 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 18 (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 18. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Town and Country's scale — its 7a band and its 242-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Town and Country'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 Town and Country’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Town and Country's own scale — its own ~242-day season between 28°F freezes, the 7,354 acres it covers and 2,532 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Town and Country's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Town and Country's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 21 and Nov 18 and the ~242-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 2,532 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Town and Country, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Town and Country's boundary and the 7,354 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~242-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Town and Country's own centroid, the Interior River Valleys and HillsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Town and Country checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Town and Country's 7,354 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom St. Louis County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom St. Louis County
  • The growing challenges every Missouri grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Missouri
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom St. Louis County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Town and Country's 7,354 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Town and Country you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 7,354 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Town and Country-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address