Wheatland County, in Montana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, cranberry, cilantro, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Wheatland County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Wheatland County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. 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 Wheatland County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Wheatland County — the short answer
Wheatland County, Montana: USDA zone 4b, about 143 days between hard freezes, across 910K acres.
- USDA zone
- 4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 10
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Sep 30
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~143
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 910K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 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
Zone 4b is Wheatland County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Wheatland County's 143-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Wheatland County
Across a year, Wheatland County accumulates about 1,338 growing degree days above 50°F, about 332 fewer than the middle Montana county — ahead of 21 of Montana’s 56 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Wheatland County
Across Wheatland County, the ground is predominantly Entisols, where Cabbart, Ethridge, and Crago are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 7.4–8.2, slightly alkaline. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group D soils.
Soil order
Entisols
Drainage
Well drained
Hydric soils
1%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Wheatland County
The USDA soil survey maps 88% of Wheatland County as well drained — but another 12% drains differently: 6% moderately well drained, 5% somewhat poorly drained.
Cabbart is the most extensive named soil at 14% of mapped acres, then Ethridge (8%) and Crago (7%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Wheatland County
Each reading below is measured for Wheatland County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Wheatland County are well drained, in hydrologic group D — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Wheatland County runs about pH 7.4–8.2, on the alkaline side.
Many vegetables cope, but acid-lovers like blueberries struggle, and iron and manganese lock up above about pH 7.5 — leaves yellow between the veins even in rich soil.
Elemental sulfur and generous organic matter lower pH slowly for the beds that need it; test first so you add only what the soil actually calls for.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredWheatland County runs about 143 days between hard freezes — a short growing season.
Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.
Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredWheatland County sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b.
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 Wheatland County is in
Wheatland County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Northwestern Great Plains (92%) and Middle Rockies (8%). Which one your land falls in changes what grows wild there and how the ground behaves, and a county-wide answer cannot tell you which.
What Grows in Wheatland County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Wheatland County's own USDA zone 4b and its own 143-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Montana profile.
Is it too late to plant in Wheatland County?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 12; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 10 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Sep 30 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Even here the calendar’s edges hold value: thirty-day greens late in the window, then garlic and a rested bed for spring.
What gets applied to farmland in Wheatland County
USGS estimates 56,171 lb of Glyphosate on Wheatland County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of 2,4-d (21,397 lb) and Bromoxynil (6,470 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Wheatland County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Wheatland County — 62 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Wheatland County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Wheatland County
Closest first, across Wheatland County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- HARLOWTON SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- WHEATLAND COUNTY SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- LAMMERS FEED & SEED INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- TOWN PUMP INC HARLOWTONUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- GENE LEARYUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- MALMSTROM AFB K 1Underground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- OLD MILWAUKEE RAILROADUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- MALMSTROM AFB K 8Underground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- MALMSTROM AFB K 3Underground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- MALMSTROM AFB K 2Underground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- WOJTOWICK AUTO REPAIRUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- HANKS AUTO & TIREUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Wheatland County'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 Wheatland County.
Total Sites
62
across Wheatland County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Wheatland County
Severity Distribution
across Wheatland County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Wheatland County, two things run higher than the national average across Wheatland County — CAFO (3 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (54 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Wheatland County
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 Wheatland County average
Your land is one point inside Wheatland County
Everything above resolves to Wheatland County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 910K 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 county 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 county average.
Your Lot vs the Wheatland County Average
Wheatland County Average
- ●USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Wheatland County
- ●One soil character for all of Wheatland County
- ●Frost dates read at Wheatland County's scale: May 10 to Sep 30
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Wheatland County's 4b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Wheatland County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Wheatland County, Montana — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Wheatland County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Wheatland County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Wheatland County average
How we know this about Wheatland County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Wheatland County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Wheatland County
When does frost risk typically end in Wheatland County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Wheatland County typically lands around May 10, 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 May 31.
How long is the growing season in Wheatland County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Wheatland County sees about 143 frost-free days — roughly May 10 through Sep 30, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 31 to Sep 16, about 108 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Wheatland County?
The federal record around Wheatland County is a meaningful one — 62 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (54), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 4.0 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 gardeners stretch the season in Wheatland County?
With about 143 frost-free days between hard freezes, Wheatland County rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 171 to 199 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 10 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Wheatland County's scale — its 4b band and its 143-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Wheatland County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Montana's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Wheatland County’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Wheatland County's own scale — its own ~143-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 62 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Wheatland County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Wheatland County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~143-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Wheatland CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 62 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 4.0 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Wheatland County's boundary and the 910,387 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~143-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Wheatland County spans, Northwestern Great Plains the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Wheatland County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Montana grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Montana
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Wheatland County — the ~143 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Wheatland County's 910,387 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 62 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Wheatland Countyread your own land →