Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
Well-matched crops include cabbage, hazelnut, 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.
Even in Narragansett Pier, 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 Narragansett Pier 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 Narragansett Pier — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Narragansett Pier — the short answer
Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island: USDA zone 7a, about 239 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 27
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 21
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~239
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 2K 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 7a is Narragansett Pier's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Narragansett Pier's 239-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Narragansett Pier
Each reading below is measured for Narragansett Pier itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredNarragansett Pier runs about 239 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
Winter hardiness
MeasuredNarragansett Pier sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.
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 Narragansett Pier is in
Narragansett Pier sits in the Northeastern Coastal Zone — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Narragansett Pier's own centroid rather than borrowed from Washington County.
What Grows in Narragansett Pier
Every plant below cleared Narragansett Pier's own zone 7a and its 239-day season. Each card opens that plant's Rhode Island profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Narragansett Pier?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 27; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 27 (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. With a season this long, “too late” mostly means “switch crops” — second sowings and a full fall garden are the norm, with garlic closing the year.
Documented around Narragansett Pier
Spotted lanternfly documented 14 miles from Narragansett Pier, first recorded 2021. What to watch for.
What's on the federal record near Narragansett Pier
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Narragansett Pier. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- A. VELLONE LANDSCAPE GARDENING CO., INC.Underground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- FRANK DIGIACOMO CONSTRUCTION COMPANYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- TAYLOR'S GARAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- TAYLOR'S GARAGEBrownfields · 2300 ft
- RIDOT SALT STORAGE @ DILLON'S ROTARYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- DB MART #12 (FORMER)Underground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- LODGE PETER J DMDBrownfields · 0.5 mi
- NARRAGANSETT TOWN OF MAINT FACILBrownfields · 0.6 mi
- SOUTH WINDS APARTMENTSUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- OUIDAA STREET PUMP STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- ALLEN RESIDENCEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- OAKWOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY (FORMERLY)Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Narragansett Pier'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 Narragansett Pier.
Total Sites
886
within ~10 miles of Narragansett Pier
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
17 Superfund sites
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Narragansett Pier
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Narragansett Pier
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Narragansett Pier, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Narragansett Pier — Superfund (17 sites) and Nitrate (340 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in Narragansett Pier
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 Narragansett Pier average
Your land is one point inside Narragansett Pier
Everything above resolves to Narragansett Pier as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 2K 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 Narragansett Pier Average
Narragansett Pier Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Narragansett Pier
- ●One soil character for all of Narragansett Pier
- ●Frost dates read at Narragansett Pier's scale: Mar 27 to Nov 21
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Narragansett Pier's 7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Narragansett Pier
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Narragansett Pier averages can't show:
We read public map data around Narragansett Pier — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Narragansett Pier average
How we know this about Narragansett Pier
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 Narragansett Pier’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 Narragansett Pier
When does frost risk typically end in Narragansett Pier?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Narragansett Pier typically lands around Mar 27, 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 17.
When is the first frost in Narragansett Pier?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Narragansett Pier 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 239 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Narragansett Pier?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Narragansett Pier sees about 239 frost-free days — roughly Mar 27 through Nov 21, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 17 to Nov 7, about 204 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Narragansett Pier?
The federal record around Narragansett Pier is a meaningful one — 886 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (343), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Narragansett Pier?
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 Narragansett Pier's scale — its 7a band and its 239-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Narragansett Pier'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 Narragansett Pier’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at Narragansett Pier's own scale — its own ~239-day season between 28°F freezes, the 2,283 acres it covers and 886 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Narragansett Pier's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Narragansett Pier's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 27 and Nov 21 and the ~239-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 886 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Narragansett Pier, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Narragansett Pier's boundary and the 2,283 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~239-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Narragansett Pier's own centroid, the Northeastern Coastal ZoneUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- A documented spotted-lanternfly record within reach of Narragansett Pierlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Narragansett Pier's 2,283 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Washington County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Washington County
- The growing challenges every Rhode Island grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Rhode Island
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Washington County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Narragansett Pier's 2,283 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Narragansett Pier you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,283 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 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 Narragansett Pier-wide figureread your own land →
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