What Grows in Four Corners, Texas

USDA Zones 9b · 2K acres

Four Corners, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.

Reliable performers under these conditions include okra, meyer lemon, california poppy, and artichoke; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Four Corners — the short answer

Four Corners, Texas: USDA zone 9b, about 319 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.

USDA zone
9b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Jan 27
Fort Bend County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Dec 12
Fort Bend County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~319
Fort Bend County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Town area
2K 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 Fort Bend County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

9b9b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 9b is Four Corners's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Four Corners's 319-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Four Corners

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

Season length

From county records

Four Corners runs about 319 days between hard freezes (read from Fort Bend County, the closest normal to Four Corners) — 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

Four Corners sits in USDA hardiness zone 9b.

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 Four Corners is in

Four Corners sits in the Western Gulf Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Four Corners's own centroid rather than borrowed from Fort Bend County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Four Corners

Every plant below cleared Four Corners's own zone 9b and its 319-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.

okra, photograph
Growing okra in TexasZones 2–12Four Corners's 319 days clear the ~50 it needs.
Meyer lemon, photograph
Texas meyer lemon guideZones 9–11Four Corners's 9b is its exact cold limit.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in TexasZones 6–10Four Corners's 9b — 3 zones of cold margin.
artichoke, photograph
Artichoke: Texas growing notesZones 7–11Four Corners's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
avocado, photograph
Growing avocado in TexasZones 9–11Four Corners's 9b is its exact cold limit.
rosemary, photograph
Texas rosemary guideZones 8–10Four Corners's 9b — 1 zone of cold margin.
cabbage, photograph
Cabbage in TexasZones 2–11Four Corners's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
banana, photograph
Banana: Texas growing notesZones 9–11Four Corners's 9b is its exact cold limit.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in TexasFour Corners's 319 days clear the ~90 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
Texas collard greens guideZones 2–11Four Corners's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
kale, photograph
Kale in TexasZones 2–11Four Corners's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Texas growing notesZones 2–11Four Corners's 319 days clear the ~70 it needs.
potato, photograph
Growing potato in TexasZones 2–11Four Corners's 9b — 7 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Texas pumpkin guideZones 3–11Four Corners's 319 days clear the ~40 it needs.
sweet corn, photograph
Sweet corn in TexasZones 2–11Four Corners's 319 days clear the ~65 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Texas growing notesZones 3–10Four Corners's 9b — 6 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in TexasZones 2–11Four Corners's 319 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Texas apache plume guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in TexasZones 7–11Four Corners's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
agave, photograph
Agave: Texas growing notesZones 8–11Four Corners's 9b — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in TexasFour Corners's 319 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Texas holly guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
Carolina jessamine, photograph
Carolina jessamine in TexasZones 7–10Four Corners's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
mountain laurel, photograph
Mountain laurel: Texas growing notesZones 5–11Four Corners's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
palo verde, photograph
Growing palo verde in TexasZones 8–11Four Corners's 9b — 1 zone of cold margin.
jungle rice, photograph
Texas jungle rice guideZones 7–13Four Corners's 319 days clear the ~45 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in TexasZones 5–11Four Corners's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
redbud, photograph
Redbud: Texas growing notesZones 5–11Four Corners's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.
lablab, photograph
Growing lablab in TexasZones 7–13Four Corners's 9b — 2 zones of cold margin.
liriope, photograph
Texas liriope guideZones 5–11Four Corners's 9b — 4 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Four Corners?

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 1; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Jan 27 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 12 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With almost year-round growing weather, timing is about heat and rainfall more than frost — some bench is always in play.

Documented around Four Corners

Survey cells within 31 miles of Four Corners checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 495 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Four Corners

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

  1. AMISTAD ENVIRONMENTALToxics Release Inventory · 1300 ft
  2. NORTH MISSION GLEN MUDUnderground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
  3. SPRINT WASTE OF TEXASBrownfields · 2500 ft
  4. SPRINT WASTE SERVICESUnderground Storage Tanks · 2500 ft
  5. TEXAN MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  6. FORMER LIVING WINDOWS WAREHOUSEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  7. DAHHHUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  8. COLOR COATINGSUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  9. ROMTEX ENTERPRISESBrownfields · 0.9 mi
  10. FHF ENTERPRISESUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  11. WOODBRIDGE CHEVRONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  12. PLUS CLEANERSBrownfields · 1.1 mi

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

Measured from Four Corners'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 Four Corners.

Total Sites

1,773

within ~10 miles of Four Corners

Risk Level

High

Highest-severity

4 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Four Corners

High52Moderate593Low1,128

Highest-Severity Sites

Big Oaks Mud
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Blue Ridge West Mud
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Meadows Place
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Sugar Land
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
City of Sugar Land - Greatwood
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Four Corners, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Four Corners — CAFO (108 sites) and PFAS (51 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.

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

Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.

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

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Four Corners

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 Four Corners average

Your land is one point inside Four Corners

Everything above resolves to Four Corners as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Fort Bend 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 Four Corners Average

Four Corners Average

  • USDA Zones 9b, averaged across Four Corners
  • One soil character for all of Four Corners
  • Frost dates read at Four Corners's scale: Jan 27 to Dec 12

YOUR Parcel

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

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Four Corners

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Four Corners averages 319Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Four Corners

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 Fort Bend 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 Four Corners

When does frost risk typically end in Four Corners?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Four Corners typically lands around Jan 27, 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 Feb 17.

When is the first frost in Four Corners?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Four Corners typically arrives around Dec 12, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 28, so the watching starts about Nov 12 — about 319 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Four Corners?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Four Corners sees about 319 frost-free days — roughly Jan 27 through Dec 12, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 17 to Nov 28, about 284 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Four Corners?

The federal record around Four Corners runs heavier than most — 1,773 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (1,096), the nearest Toxics Release Inventory record about 0.2 miles out — so test the soil before planting food in the ground, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well in the meantime. Even here, proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what's recorded and where.

How do I protect my plants from frost in Four Corners?

From about Nov 12 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 12 (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 12. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Four Corners's scale — its 9b band and its 319-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Four Corners'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 Four Corners’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Four Corners's own scale — the 1,544 acres it covers and 1,773 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Four Corners's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 1,773 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Four Corners, the closest Toxics Release Inventory record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Four Corners's boundary and the 1,544 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9b and a ~319-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Four Corners's own centroid, the Western Gulf Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Four Corners checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Four Corners has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Fort Bend County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Four Corners's 1,544 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Fort Bend County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Fort Bend 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 Fort Bend County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Four Corners's 1,544 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Four Corners you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,544 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Toxics Release Inventory record about 0.2 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 Four Corners-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in Texas

Wider growing context

What grows across Texas

Four Corners sits outside our named growing regions, so Texas as a whole is its closest context here.