Kenedy, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Reliable performers under these conditions include artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Kenedy, 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 Kenedy 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 Kenedy — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Kenedy — the short answer
Kenedy, Texas: USDA zone 9a, about 307 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of city.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 5
- Karnes County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 9
- Karnes County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~307
- Karnes 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 Karnes County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Kenedy's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Kenedy's 307-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Kenedy
Each reading below is measured for Kenedy itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsKenedy runs about 307 days between hard freezes (read from Karnes County, the closest normal to Kenedy) — 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
MeasuredKenedy 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 Kenedy is in
Kenedy sits in the East Central Texas Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Kenedy's own centroid rather than borrowed from Karnes County.
What Grows in Kenedy
Every plant below cleared Kenedy's own zone 9a and its 307-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Kenedy?
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 8; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 5 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 9 — 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 Kenedy
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Kenedy. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- GREENS SPORTING GOODSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
- CIRCLE K 2704059Underground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
- FAST MART 8191Underground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
- FFP 611Underground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
- CIRCLE K 520Underground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- JIMBOS FOOD MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 2400 ft
- HEB 688 KENEDY CONVENIENCE STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 2500 ft
- CITY OF KENEDYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- CIRCLE K STORE 2706980Underground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- CIRCLE K 584Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- CORNER STORE 0045Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- KENEDY CHAMBER OF COMMERCEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Kenedy'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 Kenedy.
Total Sites
114
within ~10 miles of Kenedy
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Kenedy
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Kenedy
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Kenedy, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Kenedy — Underground Storage Tanks (80 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (7 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Kenedy
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 Kenedy average
Your land is one point inside Kenedy
Everything above resolves to Kenedy as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 3K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Karnes 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 Kenedy Average
Kenedy Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Kenedy
- ●One soil character for all of Kenedy
- ●Frost dates read at Kenedy's scale: Feb 5 to Dec 9
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Kenedy's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Kenedy
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Kenedy, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Kenedy averages can't show:
We read public map data around Kenedy — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Kenedy average
How we know this about Kenedy
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 Karnes 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 Kenedy
When does frost risk typically end in Kenedy?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Kenedy typically lands around Feb 5, 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 26.
When is the first frost in Kenedy?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Kenedy typically arrives around Dec 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 25, so the watching starts about Nov 9 — about 307 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Kenedy?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Kenedy sees about 307 frost-free days — roughly Feb 5 through Dec 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Feb 26 to Nov 25, about 272 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Kenedy?
The federal record around Kenedy is a meaningful one — 114 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (80), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Kenedy?
From about Nov 9 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 9 (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 9. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Kenedy's scale — its 9a band and its 307-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Kenedy'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 Kenedy’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Kenedy's own scale — the 2,824 acres it covers and 114 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Kenedy's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 114 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Kenedy, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Kenedy's boundary and the 2,824 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~307-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Kenedy's own centroid, the East Central Texas PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Kenedy has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Karnes County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Kenedy's 2,824 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Karnes County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Karnes 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 Karnes County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Kenedy's 2,824 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Kenedy you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,824 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Kenedy-wide figureread your own land →
More in Texas
Wider growing context
What grows across TexasKenedy sits outside our named growing regions, so Texas as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides