Wilson County, in North Carolina, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Well-matched crops include cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.
Wilson County lies within the North Carolina Inner Coastal Plain (Eastern NC row-crop belt) — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Wilson County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Wilson 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 Wilson County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Wilson County — the short answer
Wilson County, North Carolina: USDA zone 8a, about 257 days between hard freezes, across 235K acres.
- USDA zone
- 8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 13
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 25
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~257
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 235K 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 8a is Wilson County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Wilson County's 257-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat and winter chill in Wilson County
Across a year, Wilson County accumulates about 4,714 growing degree days above 50°F, about 324 more than the middle North Carolina county — ahead of 68 of North Carolina’s 100 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.
Winter banks about 1,610 hours below 45°F, 153 fewer than the North Carolina middle of 1,763. Chill is what tells a fruit tree its dormancy is over, and it is set by climate rather than by anything you can build.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Wilson County
Across Wilson County, the ground is predominantly Ultisols, where Norfolk, Rains, and Goldsboro are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a loamy sand surface. Topsoil pH runs about 4.5–5.1, very strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group A soils.
Soil order
Ultisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
51%
Hydric soils
39%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Wilson County
The USDA soil survey maps 42% of Wilson County as well drained — but another 56% drains differently: 35% poorly drained, 19% moderately well drained.
Norfolk is the most extensive named soil at 23% of mapped acres, then Rains (13%) and Goldsboro (9%).
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 Wilson County
Each reading below is measured for Wilson 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 Wilson County are well drained, in hydrologic group A — 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 Wilson County runs about pH 4.5–5.1, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 39% of Wilson County is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredWilson County runs about 257 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.
There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.
Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Wilson County is in
Wilson County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Southeastern Plains (95%) and Piedmont (5%). 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 Wilson County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Wilson County's own USDA zone 8a and its own 257-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 North Carolina profile.
Is it too late to plant in Wilson 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 Feb 13; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 13 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 25 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the season winds down slowly: late sowings, a real autumn harvest, and garlic in the ground before the first hard freeze.
Documented around Wilson County
Survey cells within 31 miles of Wilson County checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 39 miles off. What to watch for.
What gets applied to farmland in Wilson County
USGS estimates 109,888 lb of Glyphosate on Wilson County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of 2,4-d (28,316 lb) and Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (18,724 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 Wilson County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Wilson County — 535 documented sites across 7 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 4 Superfund sites (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 Wilson 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 Wilson County
Closest first, across Wilson County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- STANDARD COMMERCIAL TOBACCO COUnderground Storage Tanks · 550 ft
- ALLIANCE ONE INTERNATIONAL INC - MILLER ROADToxics Release Inventory · 600 ft
- ALLIANCE ONE INTERNATIONAL INC - MILLER ROADBrownfields · 600 ft
- PUROLATOR COURIER CORP.Underground Storage Tanks · 600 ft
- EDWARDS ELECTRIC CO., INC.Underground Storage Tanks · 700 ft
- LOVETTE CO.Underground Storage Tanks · 950 ft
- NICHOLSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
- SOUTHERN PIPING CO., INC.Underground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
- DOBIE ORIGINALSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- ESTES EXPRESS LINESUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- BELIN TIRE CENTERS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
- AGRICRAFT CO.Underground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Wilson 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 Wilson County.
Total Sites
535
across Wilson County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
4 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Wilson County
Severity Distribution
across Wilson County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Wilson County, two things run higher than the national average across Wilson County — Underground Storage Tanks (363 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (34 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Wilson 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 Wilson County average
Your land is one point inside Wilson County
Everything above resolves to Wilson County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 235K 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 Wilson County Average
Wilson County Average
- ●USDA Zones 8a, averaged across Wilson County
- ●One soil character for all of Wilson County
- ●Frost dates read at Wilson County's scale: Mar 13 to Nov 25
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Wilson County's 8a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Wilson County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Wilson County, North Carolina — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Wilson County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Wilson County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Wilson County average
How we know this about Wilson 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 Wilson County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Wilson County
When does frost risk typically end in Wilson County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Wilson County typically lands around Mar 13, 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 Apr 3.
How long is the growing season in Wilson County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Wilson County sees about 257 frost-free days — roughly Mar 13 through Nov 25, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 3 to Nov 11, about 222 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Wilson County?
The federal record around Wilson County is a meaningful one — 535 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (363), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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.
Everything above is measured at Wilson County's scale — its 8a band and its 257-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Wilson 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 North Carolina's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Wilson County’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Wilson County's own scale — its own ~257-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 535 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Wilson County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Wilson County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~257-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Wilson CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 535 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Wilson County's boundary and the 235,247 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8a and a ~257-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Wilson County spans, Southeastern Plains the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Wilson County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every North Carolina grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom North Carolina
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Wilson County — the ~257 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 Wilson County's 235,247 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 535 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 Wilson Countyread your own land →