What Grows in Plain City, Utah

USDA Zones 7a · 8K acres

Plain City, Utah, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.

These conditions suit cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

Plain City — the short answer

Plain City, Utah: USDA zone 7a, about 220 days between hard freezes, across 8K acres of city.

USDA zone
7a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Mar 29
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 4
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~220
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
City area
8K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

7a7a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7a is Plain City's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Plain City's 220-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Plain City

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

Season length

Measured

Plain City runs about 220 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Plain City sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.

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 Plain City is in

Plain City sits in the Central Basin and Range — EPA Level III, inside the wider North American Deserts. That is read at Plain City's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Weber County is mostly Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Plain City

Every plant below cleared Plain City's own zone 7a and its 220-day season. Each card opens that plant's Utah profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in UtahZones 2–11Plain City's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Utah hazelnut guideZones 4–9Plain City's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in UtahZones 6–10Plain City's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Utah growing notesZones 2–11Plain City's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in UtahZones 5–9Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Utah lavender guideZones 5–8Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in UtahZones 2–10Plain City's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pecan, photograph
Pecan: Utah growing notesZones 5–9Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in UtahPlain City's 220 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Utah kale guideZones 2–11Plain City's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in UtahZones 5–10Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Utah growing notesZones 2–11Plain City's 220 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Growing apple in UtahZones 3–8Plain City's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Utah okra guideZones 2–12Plain City's 220 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in UtahZones 2–11Plain City's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Utah growing notesZones 3–10Plain City's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in UtahZones 2–11Plain City's 220 days clear the ~70 it needs.
Apache plume, photograph
Utah apache plume guideZones 5–11Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in UtahZones 3–8Plain City's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Utah growing notesZones 3–8Plain City's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in UtahPlain City's 220 days clear the ~50 it needs.
holly, photograph
Utah holly guideZones 5–11Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in UtahZones 3–9Plain City's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Utah growing notesZones 6–8Plain City's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in UtahZones 3–9Plain City's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
Utah ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Plain City's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in UtahZones 2–7Plain City's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: Utah growing notesZones 4–10Plain City's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in UtahZones 5–10Plain City's 220 days clear the ~45 it needs.
Eastern gamagrass, photograph
Utah eastern gamagrass guideZones 5–9Plain City's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Plain City?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 1; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 29 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 4 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. A long window like this one runs successions deep into fall — and even its last weeks take quick greens and garlic.

What's on the federal record near Plain City

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

  1. (B- 7- 2)32bbb- 1Nitrate · 2200 ft
  2. JACK'S GARAGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  3. (B- 7- 2)31dac- 2Nitrate · 0.9 mi
  4. MARRIOTT FEEDLOTCAFO · 0.9 mi
  5. PLAIN CITY CORPORATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  6. MAVERIK #461Underground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
  7. (B- 6- 2) 5acb- 2Nitrate · 1.3 mi
  8. (B- 7- 2)20daa- 1Nitrate · 1.5 mi
  9. (B- 7- 2)34bbb- 2Nitrate · 1.6 mi
  10. (B- 7- 2)21cad- 1Nitrate · 1.7 mi
  11. DAVIS FEEDLOTCAFO · 2.1 mi
  12. (B- 7- 2)16dcd- 2Nitrate · 2.4 mi

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

Measured from Plain City'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 Plain City.

Total Sites

718

within ~10 miles of Plain City

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

10 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Plain City

High7Moderate248Low463

Highest-Severity Sites

Hooper Water Improvement District
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Ogden City Water System
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Ogden Defense Depot (Dla)
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Roy City Water System
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Taylor-West Weber Wid
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Plain City, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Plain City — PFAS (8 sites) and CAFO (7 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.

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

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

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

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

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Plain City

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 Plain City average

Your land is one point inside Plain City

Everything above resolves to Plain City as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 8K acres. 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 Plain City Average

Plain City Average

  • USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Plain City
  • One soil character for all of Plain City
  • Frost dates read at Plain City's scale: Mar 29 to Nov 4

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Plain City's 7a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Plain City

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Plain City averages 220Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Plain City

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 Plain City’s own record; 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 Plain City

When does frost risk typically end in Plain City?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Plain City typically lands around Mar 29, 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 Apr 19.

When is the first frost in Plain City?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Plain City typically arrives around Nov 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 21, so the watching starts about Oct 5 — about 220 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Plain City?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Plain City sees about 220 frost-free days — roughly Mar 29 through Nov 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 19 to Oct 21, about 185 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Plain City?

The federal record around Plain City is a meaningful one — 718 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (385), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.4 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 Plain City?

From about Oct 5 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 4 (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 4. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Plain City's scale — its 7a band and its 220-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Plain City'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 Plain City’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Plain City's own scale — its own ~220-day season between 28°F freezes, the 7,747 acres it covers and 718 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Plain City's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Plain City's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Mar 29 and Nov 4 and the ~220-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 718 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Plain City, the closest Nitrate record about 0.4 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Plain City's boundary and the 7,747 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~220-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • Plain City sits in the Central Basin and Range — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Plain City's 7,747 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Weber County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Weber County
  • The growing challenges every Utah grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Utah
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Weber County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Plain City's 7,747 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Plain City you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 7,747 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.4 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 Plain City-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address