East Tawakoni, Texas, 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.
On paper, cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in East Tawakoni, 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 East Tawakoni 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 East Tawakoni — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
East Tawakoni — the short answer
East Tawakoni, Texas: USDA zone 8b, about 273 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 25
- Rains County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 25
- Rains County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~273
- Rains County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- City 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 Rains County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is East Tawakoni's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against East Tawakoni's 273-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in East Tawakoni
Each reading below is measured for East Tawakoni itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsEast Tawakoni runs about 273 days between hard freezes (read from Rains County, the closest normal to East Tawakoni) — 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
MeasuredEast Tawakoni 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 East Tawakoni is in
East Tawakoni sits in the East Central Texas Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at East Tawakoni's own centroid rather than borrowed from Rains County.
What Grows in East Tawakoni
Every plant below cleared East Tawakoni's own zone 8b and its 273-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in East Tawakoni?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. 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 25 — 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 East Tawakoni
Closest first, within ~10 miles of East Tawakoni. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- DOCS DISCOUNT STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- TJS SUPERSTOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.6 mi
- BIG DADDYS CONVENIENCEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.6 mi
- UX-34-01-501Nitrate · 1.6 mi
- UX-34-01-601Nitrate · 1.7 mi
- SUPER STOP SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.0 mi
- AAA WIRE PRODUCTS INCToxics Release Inventory · 3.7 mi
- EXTREME METAL FINISHINGSuperfund · 3.8 mi
- KOUNTRY KAFEUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- DAL AIR TOOL CO DBA DAL AIR INBrownfields · 3.9 mi
- MAX A MART 5Underground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- PHILLIPS AUTO SERVICEUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from East Tawakoni'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 East Tawakoni.
Total Sites
61
within ~10 miles of East Tawakoni
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of East Tawakoni
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of East Tawakoni
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around East Tawakoni, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of East Tawakoni — CAFO (3 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (42 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in East Tawakoni
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 East Tawakoni average
Your land is one point inside East Tawakoni
Everything above resolves to East Tawakoni as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 1K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Rains 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 East Tawakoni Average
East Tawakoni Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across East Tawakoni
- ●One soil character for all of East Tawakoni
- ●Frost dates read at East Tawakoni's scale: Feb 25 to Nov 25
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not East Tawakoni's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in East Tawakoni
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in East Tawakoni, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that East Tawakoni averages can't show:
We read public map data around East Tawakoni — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the East Tawakoni average
How we know this about East Tawakoni
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 Rains 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 East Tawakoni
When does frost risk typically end in East Tawakoni?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in East Tawakoni 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 East Tawakoni?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in East Tawakoni typically arrives around Nov 25, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 11, so the watching starts about Oct 26 — about 273 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in East Tawakoni?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, East Tawakoni sees about 273 frost-free days — roughly Feb 25 through Nov 25, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 18 to Nov 11, about 238 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in East Tawakoni?
The federal record around East Tawakoni is a meaningful one — 61 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (42), 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 East Tawakoni?
From about Oct 26 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 25 (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 25. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at East Tawakoni's scale — its 8b band and its 273-day season. Your yard writes its own version of East Tawakoni'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 East Tawakoni’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at East Tawakoni's own scale — the 1,132 acres it covers and 61 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- East Tawakoni's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 61 documented contamination sites on the federal record near East Tawakoni, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- East Tawakoni's boundary and the 1,132 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~273-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at East Tawakoni's own centroid, the East Central Texas PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — East Tawakoni has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Rains County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so East Tawakoni's 1,132 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Rains County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Rains 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 Rains County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among East Tawakoni's 1,132 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of East Tawakoni you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,132 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 East Tawakoni-wide figureread your own land →
More in Texas
Wider growing context
What grows across TexasEast Tawakoni sits outside our named growing regions, so Texas as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides