What Grows in Center Point, Texas

USDA Zones 8b · 3K acres

Center Point, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.

The conditions favor cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

Center Point — the short answer

Center Point, Texas: USDA zone 8b, about 251 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of town.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 11
Kerr County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 17
Kerr County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~251
Kerr County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
3K 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 Kerr 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 Center Point's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Center Point's 251-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Center Point

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

Season length

From county records

Center Point runs about 251 days between hard freezes (read from Kerr County, the closest normal to Center Point) — 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

Center Point 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 Center Point is in

Center Point sits in the Edwards Plateau — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Center Point's own centroid rather than borrowed from Kerr County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Center Point

Every plant below cleared Center Point's own zone 8b and its 251-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in TexasZones 2–11Center Point's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Texas fig guideZones 6–10Center Point's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in TexasZones 6–10Center Point's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Texas growing notesZones 2–11Center Point's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in TexasZones 7–10Center Point's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Texas rosemary guideZones 8–10Center Point's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in TexasZones 2–11Center Point's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate: Texas growing notesZones 7–10Center Point's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in TexasZones 5–8Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Texas lentil guideZones 2–11Center Point's 251 days clear the ~70 it needs.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in TexasZones 5–10Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Texas growing notesZones 2–12Center Point's 251 days clear the ~50 it needs.
grape, photograph
Growing grape in TexasZones 6–9Center Point's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Texas potato guideZones 2–11Center Point's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in TexasZones 3–11Center Point's 251 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Texas growing notesZones 3–10Center Point's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in TexasZones 2–11Center Point's 251 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Texas apache plume guideZones 5–11Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in TexasZones 3–8Center Point's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Texas growing notesZones 3–8Center Point's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in TexasCenter Point's 251 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Texas holly guideZones 5–11Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in TexasZones 7–10Center Point's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Texas growing notesZones 6–8Center Point's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in TexasZones 5–11Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
Texas pearl millet guideZones 5–11Center Point's 251 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in TexasZones 5–11Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Texas growing notesZones 4–10Center Point's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in TexasZones 2–11Center Point's 251 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Texas liriope guideZones 5–11Center Point's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Center Point?

For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 11; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 11 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 17 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.

What's on the federal record near Center Point

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

  1. NEU MART 6Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
  2. MINI MART 4Underground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
  3. VERDE PARK ESTATESPFAS · 1.6 mi
  4. RRUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.4 mi
  5. KERRVILLE AVIATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.6 mi
  6. JAMES AVERY CRAFTSMAN CENTERBrownfields · 3.6 mi
  7. JAMES AVERY CRAFTSMAN CENTERToxics Release Inventory · 3.6 mi
  8. NEUMART 4Underground Storage Tanks · 3.8 mi
  9. MOONEY AVIATION COMPANYBrownfields · 4.2 mi
  10. MOONEY AVIATION COMPANYToxics Release Inventory · 4.2 mi
  11. MOONEY AIRCRAFTUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
  12. MINI MART 3Underground Storage Tanks · 5.2 mi

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

Measured from Center Point'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 Center Point.

Total Sites

102

within ~10 miles of Center Point

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Center Point

High4Moderate48Low50

Highest-Severity Sites

City of Kerrville
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Ingram Water Supply
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Loma Vista Water System
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Verde Park Estates
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
7-Eleven Store 40515
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Center Point, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Center Point — PFAS (4 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (72 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.

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

Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.

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

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Center Point

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 Center Point average

Your land is one point inside Center Point

Everything above resolves to Center Point as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Kerr 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 Center Point Average

Center Point Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Center Point
  • One soil character for all of Center Point
  • Frost dates read at Center Point's scale: Mar 11 to Nov 17

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Center Point

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Center Point averages 251Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Center Point

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 Kerr 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 Center Point

When does frost risk typically end in Center Point?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Center Point typically lands around Mar 11, 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 1.

When is the first frost in Center Point?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Center Point typically arrives around Nov 17, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 3, so the watching starts about Oct 18 — about 251 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Center Point?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Center Point sees about 251 frost-free days — roughly Mar 11 through Nov 17, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 1 to Nov 3, about 216 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Center Point?

The federal record around Center Point is a meaningful one — 102 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (72), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 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 Center Point?

From about Oct 18 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 17 (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 17. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Center Point's scale — its 8b band and its 251-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Center Point'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 Center Point’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Center Point's own scale — the 3,413 acres it covers and 102 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Center Point's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 102 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Center Point, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Center Point's boundary and the 3,413 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~251-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Center Point's own centroid, the Edwards PlateauUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Center Point has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Kerr County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Center Point's 3,413 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Kerr County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Kerr 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 Kerr County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Center Point's 3,413 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Center Point you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 3,413 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 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 Center Point-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address