Polebridge, Montana, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
On paper, okra, cranberry, cilantro, and zucchini all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Polebridge, 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 Polebridge 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 Polebridge — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Polebridge — the short answer
Polebridge, Montana: USDA zone 4b, about 115 days between hard freezes, across 75 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 4b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 24
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Sep 16
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~115
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 75 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 4b is Polebridge's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Polebridge's 115-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Polebridge
Each reading below is measured for Polebridge itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredPolebridge runs about 115 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
MeasuredPolebridge 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 Polebridge is in
Polebridge sits in the Canadian Rockies — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northwestern Forested Mountains. That is read at Polebridge's own centroid rather than borrowed from Flathead County.
What Grows in Polebridge
Every plant below cleared Polebridge's own zone 4b and its 115-day season. Each card opens that plant's Montana profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Polebridge?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 26; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 24 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Sep 16 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. When the window is tight, the fall moves are quick ones — baby greens, radishes, and garlic set for next season.
What's on the federal record near Polebridge
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Polebridge. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- POLEBRIDGE RANGER STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
- POLEBRIDGE MERCANTILEUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- HOME RANCH STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.5 mi
Measured from Polebridge'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 Polebridge.
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Polebridge
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
Check your specific parcel in Polebridge
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 Polebridge average
Your land is one point inside Polebridge
Everything above resolves to Polebridge as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 75 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 Polebridge Average
Polebridge Average
- ●USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Polebridge
- ●One soil character for all of Polebridge
- ●Frost dates read at Polebridge's scale: May 24 to Sep 16
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Polebridge's 4b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Polebridge
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Polebridge, Montana — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Polebridge averages can't show:
We read public map data around Polebridge — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Polebridge average
How we know this about Polebridge
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 Polebridge’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 Polebridge
When does frost risk typically end in Polebridge?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Polebridge typically lands around May 24, 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 Jun 14.
When is the first frost in Polebridge?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Polebridge typically arrives around Sep 16, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 2, so the watching starts about Aug 17 — about 115 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Polebridge?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Polebridge sees about 115 frost-free days — roughly May 24 through Sep 16, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 14 to Sep 2, about 80 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Polebridge?
The federal record around Polebridge is light — 3 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (3), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 gardeners stretch the season in Polebridge?
With about 115 frost-free days between hard freezes, Polebridge 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 143 to 171 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 24 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.
Everything above is measured at Polebridge's scale — its 4b band and its 115-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Polebridge'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 Polebridge’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at Polebridge's own scale — its own ~115-day season between 28°F freezes, the 75 acres it covers and 3 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Polebridge's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Polebridge's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 24 and Sep 16 and the ~115-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 3 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Polebridge, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Polebridge's boundary and the 75 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~115-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Polebridge's own centroid, the Canadian RockiesUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Polebridge's 75 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Flathead County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Flathead 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 Flathead County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Polebridge's 75 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Polebridge you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 75 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Polebridge-wide figureread your own land →
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