North Harlem Colony, Montana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 3b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.
Even in North Harlem Colony, 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 North Harlem Colony 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 North Harlem Colony — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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North Harlem Colony — the short answer
North Harlem Colony, Montana: USDA zone 3b, about 150 days between hard freezes, across 188 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 3b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 4
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 1
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~150
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 188 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 North Harlem Colony's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against North Harlem Colony's 150-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in North Harlem Colony
Each reading below is measured for North Harlem Colony itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredNorth Harlem Colony runs about 150 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
MeasuredNorth Harlem Colony 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 North Harlem Colony is in
North Harlem Colony sits in the Northwestern Glaciated Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at North Harlem Colony's own centroid rather than borrowed from Blaine County.
What Grows in North Harlem Colony
Every plant below cleared North Harlem Colony's own zone 3b and its 150-day season. Each card opens that plant's Montana profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in North Harlem Colony?
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 6; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 4 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 1 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Even past midsummer there is room for a true fall garden here, and garlic planted near the close carries the momentum into next year.
What's on the federal record near North Harlem Colony
Closest first, within ~10 miles of North Harlem Colony. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- BAKERS SERVICE CENTER INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.7 mi
- EQUITY COOP ASSOCIATION CENTRAL AVE WUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.7 mi
- FRED O DOLVENUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.8 mi
- FORMER GAS STATION HARLEMUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.8 mi
- HARLEM AIRPORTUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- NORTH HARLEM COLONYUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- BN HARLEM SECTION TOOL HOUSEUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- PHS INDIAN HOSPITALUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- HARLEM SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- E Z MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- FORT BELKNAP KWIKSTOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.0 mi
- BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS FACILITYBrownfields · 7.2 mi
1 more site is on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from North Harlem Colony'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 North Harlem Colony.
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of North Harlem Colony
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
Check your specific parcel in North Harlem Colony
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 North Harlem Colony average
Your land is one point inside North Harlem Colony
Everything above resolves to North Harlem Colony as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 188 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 North Harlem Colony Average
North Harlem Colony Average
- ●USDA Zones 3b, averaged across North Harlem Colony
- ●One soil character for all of North Harlem Colony
- ●Frost dates read at North Harlem Colony's scale: May 4 to Oct 1
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not North Harlem Colony's 3b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in North Harlem Colony
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in North Harlem Colony, Montana — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that North Harlem Colony averages can't show:
We read public map data around North Harlem Colony — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the North Harlem Colony average
How we know this about North Harlem Colony
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 North Harlem Colony’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 North Harlem Colony
When does frost risk typically end in North Harlem Colony?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in North Harlem Colony typically lands around May 4, 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 25.
When is the first frost in North Harlem Colony?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in North Harlem Colony typically arrives around Oct 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 17, so the watching starts about Sep 1 — about 150 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in North Harlem Colony?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, North Harlem Colony sees about 150 frost-free days — roughly May 4 through Oct 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 25 to Sep 17, about 115 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in North Harlem Colony?
The federal record around North Harlem Colony is light — 13 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (12), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.7 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 North Harlem Colony?
From about Sep 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 Oct 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 Oct 1. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at North Harlem Colony's scale — its 3b band and its 150-day season. Your yard writes its own version of North Harlem Colony'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 North Harlem Colony’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at North Harlem Colony's own scale — its own ~150-day season between 28°F freezes, the 188 acres it covers and 13 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- North Harlem Colony's own USDA hardiness band, zones 3bUSDA PHZM 2023
- North Harlem Colony's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 4 and Oct 1 and the ~150-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 13 documented contamination sites on the federal record near North Harlem Colony, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.7 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- North Harlem Colony's boundary and the 188 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 3b and a ~150-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at North Harlem Colony's own centroid, the Northwestern Glaciated PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so North Harlem Colony's 188 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Blaine County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Blaine 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 Blaine County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among North Harlem Colony's 188 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of North Harlem Colony you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 188 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 3.7 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 North Harlem Colony-wide figureread your own land →
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