What Grows in Fredonia, North Dakota

USDA Zones 4b · 154 acres

Fredonia, North Dakota, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Fredonia, 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 Fredonia 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 Fredonia — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Fredonia — the short answer

Fredonia, North Dakota: USDA zone 4b, about 160 days between hard freezes, across 154 acres of city.

USDA zone
4b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
May 2
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 9
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~160
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
154 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

4b4b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 4b is Fredonia's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Fredonia's 160-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Fredonia

Each reading below is measured for Fredonia itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

Measured

Fredonia runs about 160 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

Measured

Fredonia 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 Fredonia is in

Fredonia sits in the Northwestern Glaciated Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Fredonia's own centroid rather than borrowed from Logan County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Fredonia

Every plant below cleared Fredonia's own zone 4b and its 160-day season. Each card opens that plant's North Dakota profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in North DakotaZones 2–11Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
North Dakota cranberry guideZones 2–7Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Turkish rocket in North DakotaFredonia's 160 days clear the ~90 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: North Dakota growing notesZones 2–11Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in North DakotaZones 4–9Fredonia's 4b is its exact cold limit.
cilantro, photograph
North Dakota cilantro guideZones 2–11Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~35 it needs.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in North DakotaZones 2–10Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: North Dakota growing notesZones 3–8Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
dill, photograph
Growing dill in North DakotaZones 2–11Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~100 it needs.
kale, photograph
North Dakota kale guideZones 2–11Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
apple, photograph
Apple in North DakotaZones 3–8Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: North Dakota growing notesZones 2–11Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in North DakotaZones 2–12Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
North Dakota potato guideZones 2–11Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
rhubarb, photograph
Rhubarb in North DakotaZones 2–8Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~60 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: North Dakota growing notesZones 3–8Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in North DakotaZones 2–11Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
North Dakota azalea guideZones 4–8Fredonia's 4b is its exact cold limit.
hops, photograph
Hops in North DakotaZones 3–8Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: North Dakota growing notesZones 3–10Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in North DakotaFredonia's 160 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
North Dakota lilac guideZones 4–10Fredonia's 4b is its exact cold limit.
riverbank grape, photograph
Riverbank grape in North DakotaZones 2–8Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Siberian squill, photograph
Siberian squill: North Dakota growing notesZones 2–8Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Growing blue spruce in North DakotaZones 2–8Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
North Dakota alfalfa guideZones 2–10Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in North DakotaZones 2–7Fredonia's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
American elm: North Dakota growing notesZones 3–9Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
field pea, photograph
Growing field pea in North DakotaZones 2–10Fredonia's 160 days clear the ~60 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
North Dakota canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Fredonia's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Fredonia?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 4; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 2 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 9 — 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 Fredonia

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Fredonia. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. 133-067-15CDBNitrate · 350 ft
  2. Fredonia Coop OilUnderground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
  3. 133-067-14BBBNitrate · 1.1 mi
  4. 133-067-24BBCNitrate · 1.9 mi
  5. 133-067-02CBCNitrate · 2.3 mi
  6. 133-067-29DCBNitrate · 2.6 mi
  7. 133-067-29CCB2Nitrate · 3.0 mi
  8. 133-068-11DADNitrate · 4.5 mi
  9. 132-068-02DDD2Nitrate · 4.6 mi
  10. 132-068-03AAANitrate · 4.8 mi
  11. 134-067-30ABBNitrate · 5.4 mi
  12. 134-067-21BDB1Nitrate · 5.6 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Fredonia'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 Fredonia.

Total Sites

69

within ~10 miles of Fredonia

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

1 brownfield site

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Fredonia

High0Moderate63Low6

Highest-Severity Sites

133-067-02CBC
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
133-067-02CBC
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
133-067-14BBB
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
133-067-14BBB
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
133-067-15CDB
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Fredonia, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 62 sites within ~10 miles of Fredonia. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.

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).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Fredonia

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 Fredonia average

Your land is one point inside Fredonia

Everything above resolves to Fredonia as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 154 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 city 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 Fredonia Average

Fredonia Average

  • USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Fredonia
  • One soil character for all of Fredonia
  • Frost dates read at Fredonia's scale: May 2 to Oct 9

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Fredonia's 4b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Fredonia

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Fredonia, North Dakota — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Fredonia averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Fredonia averages 160Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Fredonia — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Fredonia average

How we know this about Fredonia

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Fredonia’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 city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-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 Fredonia

When does frost risk typically end in Fredonia?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Fredonia typically lands around May 2, 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 23.

When is the first frost in Fredonia?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Fredonia typically arrives around Oct 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 25, so the watching starts about Sep 9 — about 160 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Fredonia?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Fredonia sees about 160 frost-free days — roughly May 2 through Oct 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 23 to Sep 25, about 125 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Fredonia?

The federal record around Fredonia shows 69 documented sites, mostly Nitrate entries (62), the nearest Nitrate record under a tenth of a mile out — a typical footprint for a growing area, and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. It's worth seeing which recorded sites sit closest to where you grow, and testing the soil before new food beds near any of them.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Fredonia?

From about Sep 9 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 9 (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 9. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Fredonia's scale — its 4b band and its 160-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Fredonia'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 Fredonia’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Fredonia's own scale — its own ~160-day season between 28°F freezes, the 154 acres it covers and 69 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Fredonia's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Fredonia's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 2 and Oct 9 and the ~160-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 69 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Fredonia, the closest Nitrate record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Fredonia's boundary and the 154 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~160-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Fredonia's own centroid, the Northwestern Glaciated PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Fredonia's 154 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Logan County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Logan County
  • The growing challenges every North Dakota grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom North Dakota
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Logan County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Fredonia's 154 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Fredonia you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 154 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate 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 Fredonia-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in North Dakota

Wider growing context

What grows across North Dakota

Fredonia sits outside our named growing regions, so North Dakota as a whole is its closest context here.

Nearby growing guides