What Grows in Four Corners, Oregon

USDA Zones 8b · 2K acres

Four Corners, Oregon, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.

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

Score your parcel · free

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

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Four Corners — the short answer

Four Corners, Oregon: USDA zone 8b, about 243 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 23
Marion County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 21
Marion County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~243
Marion County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
2K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Marion County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

8b8b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 8b is Four Corners's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Four Corners's 243-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Four Corners

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

Season length

From county records

Four Corners runs about 243 days between hard freezes (read from Marion County, the closest normal to Four Corners) — 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

Winter hardiness

Measured

Four Corners sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.

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 Four Corners is in

Four Corners sits in the Willamette Valley — EPA Level III, inside the wider Marine West Coast Forest. That is read at Four Corners's own centroid rather than borrowed from Marion County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Four Corners

Every plant below cleared Four Corners's own zone 8b and its 243-day season. Each card opens that plant's Oregon profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in OregonZones 2–11Four Corners's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Oregon fig guideZones 6–10Four Corners's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in OregonZones 6–10Four Corners's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Oregon growing notesZones 2–11Four Corners's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in OregonZones 7–10Four Corners's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Oregon rosemary guideZones 8–10Four Corners's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in OregonZones 2–11Four Corners's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate: Oregon growing notesZones 7–10Four Corners's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in OregonZones 5–8Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Oregon lentil guideZones 2–11Four Corners's 243 days clear the ~70 it needs.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in OregonZones 5–10Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Oregon growing notesZones 2–12Four Corners's 243 days clear the ~50 it needs.
grape, photograph
Growing grape in OregonZones 6–9Four Corners's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Oregon potato guideZones 2–11Four Corners's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in OregonZones 3–11Four Corners's 243 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Oregon growing notesZones 3–10Four Corners's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in OregonZones 2–11Four Corners's 243 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Oregon apache plume guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in OregonZones 3–8Four Corners's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Oregon growing notesZones 3–8Four Corners's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in OregonFour Corners's 243 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Oregon holly guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in OregonZones 7–11Four Corners's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Oregon growing notesZones 6–8Four Corners's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in OregonZones 5–11Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
Oregon pearl millet guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 243 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in OregonZones 5–11Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Oregon growing notesZones 4–10Four Corners's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in OregonZones 2–11Four Corners's 243 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Oregon liriope guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Four Corners?

Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 21 — 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 Four Corners

Survey cells within 31 miles of Four Corners checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 498 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Four Corners

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

  1. L & N ENTERPRISESUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
  2. UNITED PACIFIC #5558Underground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  3. JIFFY LUBEBrownfields · 0.5 mi
  4. Q-LUBE #1091Underground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  5. P & M AUTOMOTIVE INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  6. WALGREENS #9287Brownfields · 0.5 mi
  7. DAVID FIELDSUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  8. AUTOZONE NO 2227Brownfields · 0.6 mi
  9. MILLER PAINT COMPANY INCBrownfields · 0.6 mi
  10. STATE STREET FLEA MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  11. ANDERSON WAREHOUSEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  12. ARCO FACILITY NO. 04407Underground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi

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

Measured from Four Corners'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 Four Corners.

Total Sites

852

within ~10 miles of Four Corners

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

15 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Four Corners

High1Moderate148Low703

Highest-Severity Sites

Keizer, City of
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
06S/02W-30ADB
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
06S/02W-30ADB
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
06S/03W-15BDC
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
06S/03W-15BDC
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Four Corners, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Four Corners — Superfund (15 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (542 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.

Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.

Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).

Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Four Corners

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 Four Corners average

Your land is one point inside Four Corners

Everything above resolves to Four Corners as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Marion County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid. 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 Four Corners Average

Four Corners Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Four Corners
  • One soil character for all of Four Corners
  • Frost dates read at Four Corners's scale: Mar 23 to Nov 21

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Four Corners's 8b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Four Corners

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Four Corners, Oregon — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Four Corners averages 243Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Four Corners

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 Marion County’s record, because none resolves here; 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 Four Corners

When does frost risk typically end in Four Corners?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Four Corners typically lands around Mar 23, 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 13.

When is the first frost in Four Corners?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Four Corners typically arrives around Nov 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 7, so the watching starts about Oct 22 — about 243 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Four Corners?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Four Corners sees about 243 frost-free days — roughly Mar 23 through Nov 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 13 to Nov 7, about 208 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Four Corners?

The federal record around Four Corners is a meaningful one — 852 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (542), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 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.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Four Corners?

From about Oct 22 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 Nov 21 (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 Nov 21. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Four Corners's scale — its 8b band and its 243-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Four Corners'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 Four Corners’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Four Corners's own scale — the 1,560 acres it covers and 852 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Four Corners's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 852 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Four Corners, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Four Corners's boundary and the 1,560 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~243-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Four Corners's own centroid, the Willamette ValleyUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Four Corners checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Four Corners has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Marion County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Four Corners's 1,560 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Marion County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Marion County
  • The growing challenges every Oregon grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Oregon
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Marion County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Four Corners's 1,560 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Four Corners you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,560 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 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 Four Corners-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address