Govan, South Carolina, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Growers here do well with cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — with the usual caveat that any single yard's soil, sun, and drainage cast the deciding vote.
Even in Govan, 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 Govan 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 Govan — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Govan — the short answer
Govan, South Carolina: USDA zone 8b, about 282 days between hard freezes, across 481 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 23
- Bamberg County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 2
- Bamberg County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~282
- Bamberg County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 481 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 Bamberg County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Govan's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Govan's 282-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Govan
Each reading below is measured for Govan itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsGovan runs about 282 days between hard freezes (read from Bamberg County, the closest normal to Govan) — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredGovan 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 Govan is in
Govan sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Govan's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Bamberg County is mostly Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.
What Grows in Govan
Every plant below cleared Govan's own zone 8b and its 282-day season. Each card opens that plant's South Carolina profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Govan?
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 Jan 26; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 2 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.
What's on the federal record near Govan
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Govan. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- BODIFORDS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
- GULF SERVICE STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.3 mi
- AMERICAN BAKERIES COUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- TIGER EXPRESS EXXON 1Underground Storage Tanks · 2.9 mi
- HARTZOG FARMSUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- OWENS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.3 mi
- OLAR 66 STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.3 mi
- MCI LLC-DENMSCUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.4 mi
- DENMARK WOODYARDUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.1 mi
- TOWN OF HILDA DUMPSuperfund · 5.2 mi
- BEARDUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.2 mi
- NIBCO, INCBrownfields · 5.4 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Govan'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 Govan.
Total Sites
148
within ~10 miles of Govan
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Govan
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Govan
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Govan, Toxics Release Inventory runs higher than the national average — 10 sites within ~10 miles of Govan. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Govan
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 Govan average
Your land is one point inside Govan
Everything above resolves to Govan as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 481 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Bamberg 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 Govan Average
Govan Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Govan
- ●One soil character for all of Govan
- ●Frost dates read at Govan's scale: Feb 23 to Dec 2
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Govan's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Govan
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Govan, South Carolina — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Govan averages can't show:
We read public map data around Govan — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Govan average
How we know this about Govan
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 Bamberg 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 Govan
When does frost risk typically end in Govan?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Govan typically lands around Feb 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 Mar 16.
When is the first frost in Govan?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Govan typically arrives around Dec 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 18, so the watching starts about Nov 2 — about 282 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Govan?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Govan sees about 282 frost-free days — roughly Feb 23 through Dec 2, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 16 to Nov 18, about 247 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Govan?
The federal record around Govan is a meaningful one — 148 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (89), 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 Govan?
From about Nov 2 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 Dec 2 (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 Dec 2. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Govan's scale — its 8b band and its 282-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Govan'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 Govan’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Govan's own scale — the 481 acres it covers and 148 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Govan's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 148 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Govan, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Govan's boundary and the 481 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~282-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Govan sits in the Southeastern Plains — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Govan has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Bamberg County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Govan's 481 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Bamberg County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Bamberg County
- The growing challenges every South Carolina grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom South Carolina
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Bamberg County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Govan's 481 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Govan you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 481 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 Govan-wide figureread your own land →
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