What Grows in Avinger, Texas

USDA Zones 8b · 1K acres

Avinger, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Avinger — the short answer

Avinger, Texas: USDA zone 8b, about 277 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of town.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 25
Cass County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 29
Cass County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~277
Cass County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
1K 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 Cass 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 Avinger's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Avinger's 277-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Avinger

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

Season length

From county records

Avinger runs about 277 days between hard freezes (read from Cass County, the closest normal to Avinger) — 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

Measured

Avinger 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 Avinger is in

Avinger sits in the South Central Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Avinger's own centroid rather than borrowed from Cass County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Avinger

Every plant below cleared Avinger's own zone 8b and its 277-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in TexasZones 2–11Avinger's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Texas fig guideZones 6–10Avinger's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in TexasZones 6–10Avinger's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Texas growing notesZones 2–11Avinger's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in TexasZones 7–10Avinger's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Texas rosemary guideZones 8–10Avinger's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in TexasZones 2–11Avinger's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate: Texas growing notesZones 7–10Avinger's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in TexasZones 5–8Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Texas lentil guideZones 2–11Avinger's 277 days clear the ~70 it needs.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in TexasZones 5–10Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Texas growing notesZones 2–12Avinger's 277 days clear the ~50 it needs.
almond, photograph
Growing almond in TexasZones 5–9Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Texas potato guideZones 2–11Avinger's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in TexasZones 3–11Avinger's 277 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Texas growing notesZones 3–10Avinger's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in TexasZones 2–11Avinger's 277 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Texas apache plume guideZones 5–11Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in TexasZones 3–8Avinger's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Texas growing notesZones 3–8Avinger's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in TexasAvinger's 277 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Texas holly guideZones 5–11Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in TexasZones 7–10Avinger's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Texas growing notesZones 6–8Avinger's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in TexasZones 5–11Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
Texas pearl millet guideZones 5–11Avinger's 277 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in TexasZones 5–11Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Texas growing notesZones 4–10Avinger's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in TexasZones 2–11Avinger's 277 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Texas liriope guideZones 5–11Avinger's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Avinger?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 28; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 25 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.

What's on the federal record near Avinger

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

  1. FAMILY DOLLAR #9402Brownfields · 350 ft
  2. DORIS WILLIAMSBrownfields · 500 ft
  3. DB-35-04-801Nitrate · 1300 ft
  4. DB-35-04-803Nitrate · 1800 ft
  5. QUICK TRACK 43Underground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
  6. AVINGER ISDUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  7. DB-35-04-901Nitrate · 2.3 mi
  8. AEP WILKES POWER PLANTBrownfields · 3.3 mi
  9. AEP WILKES POWER PLANTToxics Release Inventory · 3.3 mi
  10. SX-35-12-201Nitrate · 3.4 mi
  11. DB-35-04-401Nitrate · 4.6 mi
  12. BARR 4P TRUCKINGBrownfields · 4.7 mi

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

Measured from Avinger'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 Avinger.

Total Sites

78

within ~10 miles of Avinger

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

9 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Avinger

High1Moderate48Low29

Highest-Severity Sites

City of Hughes Springs
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Blacks Superette
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Corner Mart
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Db-16-60-801
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
Db-16-60-801
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Avinger, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Avinger — Toxics Release Inventory (9 sites) and Nitrate (22 sites). 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.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

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Check your specific parcel in Avinger

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 Avinger average

Your land is one point inside Avinger

Everything above resolves to Avinger as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 1K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Cass 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 Avinger Average

Avinger Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Avinger
  • One soil character for all of Avinger
  • Frost dates read at Avinger's scale: Feb 25 to Nov 29

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Avinger

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Avinger averages 277Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Avinger

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 Cass 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 Avinger

When does frost risk typically end in Avinger?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Avinger typically lands around Feb 25, 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 18.

When is the first frost in Avinger?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Avinger typically arrives around Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 15, so the watching starts about Oct 30 — about 277 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Avinger?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Avinger sees about 277 frost-free days — roughly Feb 25 through Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 18 to Nov 15, about 242 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Avinger?

The federal record around Avinger shows 78 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (29), the nearest Brownfields 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 Avinger?

From about Oct 30 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 29 (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 29. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Avinger's scale — its 8b band and its 277-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Avinger'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 Avinger’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Avinger's own scale — the 1,245 acres it covers and 78 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Avinger's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 78 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Avinger, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Avinger's boundary and the 1,245 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~277-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Avinger's own centroid, the South Central PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Avinger has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Cass County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Avinger's 1,245 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Cass County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Cass County
  • The growing challenges every Texas grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Texas
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Cass County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Avinger's 1,245 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Avinger you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,245 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields 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 Avinger-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address