Francestown, New Hampshire, sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
Crops well matched to these conditions include cabbage, blackberry, california poppy, and collard greens — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Francestown, 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 Francestown 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 Francestown — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Francestown — the short answer
Francestown, New Hampshire: USDA zone 6a, about 173 days between hard freezes, across 600 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 6a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 28
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 18
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~173
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 600 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 6a is Francestown's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Francestown's 173-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Francestown
Each reading below is measured for Francestown itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredFrancestown runs about 173 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
MeasuredFrancestown sits in USDA hardiness zone 6a.
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 Francestown is in
Francestown sits in the Northeastern Highlands — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. That is read at Francestown's own centroid rather than borrowed from Hillsborough County.
What Grows in Francestown
Every plant below cleared Francestown's own zone 6a and its 173-day season. Each card opens that plant's New Hampshire profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Francestown?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 31; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 28 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 18 — 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.
Documented around Francestown
Spotted lanternfly documented 26 miles from Francestown, first recorded 2021. What to watch for.
What's on the federal record near Francestown
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Francestown. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- FRANCESTOWN VILLAGE STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 25 ft
- HIGHWAY GARAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- AT&T TOWER STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
- NH-FCW 62Nitrate · 1.6 mi
- CARROLL SLEEPERUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.7 mi
- NH-FCW 73Nitrate · 2.8 mi
- NH-FCW 3Nitrate · 2.9 mi
- MILLER PLUMBING & HEATINGUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
- RYMES HEATING OILS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- NH-BNW 17Nitrate · 4.0 mi
- NH DOT PS 409Underground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- AMERICAN STEEL FABRICATORSBrownfields · 4.1 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Francestown'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 Francestown.
Total Sites
198
within ~10 miles of Francestown
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Francestown
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Francestown
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Francestown, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 74 sites within ~10 miles of Francestown. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Francestown
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 Francestown average
Your land is one point inside Francestown
Everything above resolves to Francestown as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 600 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 Francestown Average
Francestown Average
- ●USDA Zones 6a, averaged across Francestown
- ●One soil character for all of Francestown
- ●Frost dates read at Francestown's scale: Apr 28 to Oct 18
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Francestown's 6a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Francestown
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Francestown, New Hampshire — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Francestown averages can't show:
We read public map data around Francestown — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Francestown average
How we know this about Francestown
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 Francestown’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 Francestown
When does frost risk typically end in Francestown?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Francestown typically lands around Apr 28, 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 19.
When is the first frost in Francestown?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Francestown typically arrives around Oct 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 4, so the watching starts about Sep 18 — about 173 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Francestown?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Francestown sees about 173 frost-free days — roughly Apr 28 through Oct 18, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 19 to Oct 4, about 138 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Francestown?
The federal record around Francestown is a meaningful one — 198 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (82), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 I protect my plants from frost in Francestown?
From about Sep 18 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 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 Oct 18. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Francestown's scale — its 6a band and its 173-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Francestown'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 Francestown’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at Francestown's own scale — its own ~173-day season between 28°F freezes, the 600 acres it covers and 198 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Francestown's own USDA hardiness band, zones 6aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Francestown's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 28 and Oct 18 and the ~173-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 198 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Francestown, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Francestown's boundary and the 600 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 6a and a ~173-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Francestown's own centroid, the Northeastern HighlandsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Francestownlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Francestown's 600 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Hillsborough County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Hillsborough County
- The growing challenges every New Hampshire grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom New Hampshire
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Hillsborough County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Francestown's 600 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Francestown you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 600 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile 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 Francestown-wide figureread your own land →
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