Hughes Springs, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Hughes Springs, 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 Hughes Springs 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 Hughes Springs — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Hughes Springs — the short answer
Hughes Springs, Texas: USDA zone 8b, about 277 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of city.
- 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
- City 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 Cass County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Hughes Springs's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Hughes Springs's 277-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Hughes Springs
Each reading below is measured for Hughes Springs itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsHughes Springs runs about 277 days between hard freezes (read from Cass County, the closest normal to Hughes Springs) — 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
MeasuredHughes Springs 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 Hughes Springs is in
Hughes Springs sits in the South Central Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Hughes Springs's own centroid rather than borrowed from Cass County.
What Grows in Hughes Springs
Every plant below cleared Hughes Springs's own zone 8b and its 277-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Hughes Springs?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. 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. With almost year-round growing weather, timing is about heat and rainfall more than frost — some bench is always in play.
What's on the federal record near Hughes Springs
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Hughes Springs. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- SHAWS SERVICE CENTERUnderground Storage Tanks · 550 ft
- CORNER MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 850 ft
- WHEELING MACHINE PRODUCTS HUGHES SPRINGSBrownfields · 1100 ft
- WHEELING MACHINE PRODUCTS HUGHES SPRINGSToxics Release Inventory · 1100 ft
- HILLS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
- FULGHUM ENTERPRISESUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- BLACKS SUPERETTEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- SHAWS BRAKE & MUFFLERUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- HUGHES SPRINGS BUS BARNUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- BETTS GULFUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- I STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- SPRING MARKET 709Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Hughes Springs'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 Hughes Springs.
Total Sites
143
within ~10 miles of Hughes Springs
Risk Level
Moderate
Highest-severity
10 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Hughes Springs
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Hughes Springs
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Hughes Springs, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Hughes Springs — Toxics Release Inventory (10 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (91 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.
Check your specific parcel in Hughes Springs
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 Hughes Springs average
Your land is one point inside Hughes Springs
Everything above resolves to Hughes Springs as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Cass 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 Hughes Springs Average
Hughes Springs Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Hughes Springs
- ●One soil character for all of Hughes Springs
- ●Frost dates read at Hughes Springs's scale: Feb 25 to Nov 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Hughes Springs's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Hughes Springs
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Hughes Springs, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Hughes Springs averages can't show:
We read public map data around Hughes Springs — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Hughes Springs average
How we know this about Hughes Springs
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 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 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 Hughes Springs
When does frost risk typically end in Hughes Springs?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Hughes Springs 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 Hughes Springs?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Hughes Springs 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 Hughes Springs?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Hughes Springs 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 Hughes Springs?
The federal record around Hughes Springs shows 143 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (91), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles 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 Hughes Springs?
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 Hughes Springs's scale — its 8b band and its 277-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Hughes Springs'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 Hughes Springs’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Hughes Springs's own scale — the 1,596 acres it covers and 143 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Hughes Springs's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 143 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Hughes Springs, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Hughes Springs's boundary and the 1,596 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 Hughes Springs's own centroid, the South Central PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Hughes Springs 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 Hughes Springs's 1,596 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 Hughes Springs's 1,596 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Hughes Springs you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,596 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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 Hughes Springs-wide figureread your own land →
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