What Grows in Diboll, Texas

USDA Zones 9a · 3K acres

Diboll, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

Crops well matched to these conditions include artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Diboll — the short answer

Diboll, Texas: USDA zone 9a, about 288 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of city.

USDA zone
9a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Feb 16
Angelina County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 1
Angelina County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~288
Angelina County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
City 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 Angelina County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

9a9a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 9a is Diboll's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Diboll's 288-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Diboll

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

Season length

From county records

Diboll runs about 288 days between hard freezes (read from Angelina County, the closest normal to Diboll) — 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

Diboll sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a.

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 Diboll is in

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

What that means for soil

What Grows in Diboll

Every plant below cleared Diboll's own zone 9a and its 288-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.

artichoke, photograph
Growing artichoke in TexasZones 7–11Diboll's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Texas fig guideZones 6–10Diboll's 9a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in TexasZones 6–10Diboll's 9a — 3 zones of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage: Texas growing notesZones 2–11Diboll's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Growing meyer lemon in TexasZones 9–11Diboll's 9a is its exact cold limit.
rosemary, photograph
Texas rosemary guideZones 8–10Diboll's 9a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens in TexasZones 2–11Diboll's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Avocado: Texas growing notesZones 9–11Diboll's 9a is its exact cold limit.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in TexasDiboll's 288 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Texas kale guideZones 2–11Diboll's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil in TexasZones 2–11Diboll's 288 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Okra: Texas growing notesZones 2–12Diboll's 288 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Growing potato in TexasZones 2–11Diboll's 9a — 7 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Texas pumpkin guideZones 3–11Diboll's 288 days clear the ~40 it needs.
sweet corn, photograph
Sweet corn in TexasZones 2–11Diboll's 288 days clear the ~65 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Texas growing notesZones 3–10Diboll's 9a — 6 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in TexasZones 2–11Diboll's 288 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Texas apache plume guideZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in TexasZones 7–11Diboll's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
barrel cactus, photograph
Barrel cactus: Texas growing notesZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in TexasDiboll's 288 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Texas holly guideZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in TexasZones 7–10Diboll's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: Texas growing notesZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Growing redbud in TexasZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
crab grass, photograph
Texas crab grass guideZones 7–11Diboll's 9a — 2 zones of cold margin.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in TexasZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Texas growing notesZones 4–10Diboll's 9a — 5 zones of cold margin.
feather top Rhodes grass, photograph
Growing feather top rhodes grass in TexasZones 7–11Diboll's 288 days clear the ~90 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Texas liriope guideZones 5–11Diboll's 9a — 4 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Diboll?

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 19; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 16 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 1 — 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 Diboll

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

  1. FAMILY DOLLAR # 6841Brownfields · 450 ft
  2. CITY OF DIBOLLUnderground Storage Tanks · 550 ft
  3. DIBOLL FOOD MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 800 ft
  4. BROOKSHIRE BROTHERS 35Underground Storage Tanks · 850 ft
  5. TARRANT 31Underground Storage Tanks · 900 ft
  6. TXDOT PARCEL NO 55 FORMER SK FOOD MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
  7. DIBOLL EXXONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
  8. BIGS 3808Underground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
  9. TE PLYWOOD PLANT DIBOLLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1600 ft
  10. GEORGIA PACIFIC DIBOLL LUMBER OPERATIONSBrownfields · 2000 ft
  11. GEORGIA PACIFIC DIBOLL LUMBER OPERATIONSToxics Release Inventory · 2000 ft
  12. TEMPLE ASSOCIATES YARDUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft

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

Measured from Diboll'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 Diboll.

Total Sites

112

within ~10 miles of Diboll

Risk Level

Moderate

Highest-severity

8 Toxics Release Inventory facilities

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Diboll

High1Moderate38Low73

Highest-Severity Sites

City of Diboll
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
A Deels 1
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
A Deels 2
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Atlas Roofing Corp
Toxics Release Inventory · 75941RGDFMBORDE
Bigs 3805
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Diboll, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Diboll — Toxics Release Inventory (8 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (73 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.

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

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

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

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Diboll

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 Diboll average

Your land is one point inside Diboll

Everything above resolves to Diboll as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Angelina County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this city’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 city 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 Diboll Average

Diboll Average

  • USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Diboll
  • One soil character for all of Diboll
  • Frost dates read at Diboll's scale: Feb 16 to Dec 1

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Diboll's 9a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Diboll

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Diboll averages 288Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Diboll

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Angelina 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 city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-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 Diboll

When does frost risk typically end in Diboll?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Diboll typically lands around Feb 16, 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 9.

When is the first frost in Diboll?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Diboll typically arrives around Dec 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 17, so the watching starts about Nov 1 — about 288 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Diboll?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Diboll sees about 288 frost-free days — roughly Feb 16 through Dec 1, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 9 to Nov 17, about 253 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Diboll?

The federal record around Diboll shows 112 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (73), 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 Diboll?

From about Nov 1 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 1 (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 1. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Diboll's scale — its 9a band and its 288-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Diboll'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 Diboll’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Diboll's own scale — the 3,185 acres it covers and 112 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Diboll's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 112 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Diboll, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Diboll's boundary and the 3,185 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~288-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Diboll's own centroid, the South Central PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Diboll has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Angelina County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Diboll's 3,185 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Angelina County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Angelina 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 Angelina County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Diboll's 3,185 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Diboll you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 3,185 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 Diboll-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address