Dodson, Montana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 3b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
On paper, cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Dodson, 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 Dodson 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 Dodson — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Dodson — the short answer
Dodson, Montana: USDA zone 3b, about 156 days between hard freezes, across 106 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 3b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 30
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 3
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~156
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 106 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
Zone 3b is Dodson's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Dodson's 156-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Dodson
Each reading below is measured for Dodson itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredDodson runs about 156 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredDodson sits in USDA hardiness zone 3b.
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 Dodson is in
Dodson sits in the Northwestern Glaciated Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Dodson's own centroid rather than borrowed from Phillips County.
What Grows in Dodson
Every plant below cleared Dodson's own zone 3b and its 156-day season. Each card opens that plant's Montana profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Dodson?
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 2; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 30 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 3 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
What's on the federal record near Dodson
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Dodson. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- FRED THACKERAYUnderground Storage Tanks · 700 ft
- FORMER DODSON CONOCOUnderground Storage Tanks · 950 ft
- TEDS EXXONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1300 ft
- BN DODSON MICROWAVEUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.6 mi
- 31N27E09BABC01Nitrate · 4.8 mi
- 30N26E09DCA 01Nitrate · 5.2 mi
- 30N26E17ADBD01Nitrate · 6.2 mi
- 31N26E19DCCD01Nitrate · 7.2 mi
- 29N27E11CCC 01Nitrate · 8.5 mi
- 31N28E15BDBD01Nitrate · 8.6 mi
- 32N27E25BB 01Nitrate · 8.7 mi
- 32N27E08BAD 01Nitrate · 9.5 mi
1 more site is on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Dodson'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 Dodson.
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Dodson
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
Check your specific parcel in Dodson
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 Dodson average
Your land is one point inside Dodson
Everything above resolves to Dodson as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 106 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 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 Dodson Average
Dodson Average
- ●USDA Zones 3b, averaged across Dodson
- ●One soil character for all of Dodson
- ●Frost dates read at Dodson's scale: Apr 30 to Oct 3
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Dodson's 3b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Dodson
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Dodson, Montana — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Dodson averages can't show:
We read public map data around Dodson — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Dodson average
How we know this about Dodson
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 Dodson’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 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 Dodson
When does frost risk typically end in Dodson?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Dodson typically lands around Apr 30, 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 21.
When is the first frost in Dodson?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Dodson typically arrives around Oct 3, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 19, so the watching starts about Sep 3 — about 156 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Dodson?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Dodson sees about 156 frost-free days — roughly Apr 30 through Oct 3, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 21 to Sep 19, about 121 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Dodson?
The federal record around Dodson is light — 22 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Nitrate entries (18), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Dodson?
From about Sep 3 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 Oct 3 (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 Oct 3. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Dodson's scale — its 3b band and its 156-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Dodson'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 Dodson’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at Dodson's own scale — its own ~156-day season between 28°F freezes, the 106 acres it covers and 22 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Dodson's own USDA hardiness band, zones 3bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Dodson's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 30 and Oct 3 and the ~156-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 22 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Dodson, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Dodson's boundary and the 106 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 3b and a ~156-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Dodson's own centroid, the Northwestern Glaciated PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Dodson's 106 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Phillips County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Phillips County
- The growing challenges every Montana grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Montana
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Phillips County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Dodson's 106 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Dodson you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 106 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 Dodson-wide figureread your own land →
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