Vermont spans USDA hardiness zones 3b-5b, with a growing season of about 150 frost-free days — a true four-season rhythm: spring greens, a full summer main crop, and a fall window that rewards planning.
The growing year is built on 34-44 inches of annual rainfall, a median of roughly 2,700 growing-degree days (base 50°F), and about 1,650 winter chill hours for tree fruit, and every crop choice answers to them. Dig almost anywhere and you'll meet glacial till, clay, silt loam, and rocky loam; how quickly they shed water is the first thing to learn about them. A short list that earns its place here — sugar maple, apple, garlic, and blueberry — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.
Grounded inUSDA PHZM 2023•NOAA Climate Normals•USDA NRCS SSURGO•GDD aggregate (Cornell CALS)•Chill-hour aggregate (MSU Extension)•EPA FRS•USDA PLANTS•Growable Ground suitability scoring
Vermont spans zones 3b-5b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and low spots nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score 1,112 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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USDA Zones
3b-5b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last Frost
May 5 - Jun 1
NOAA 30-yr Normals
First Frost
Sep 10 - Oct 5
NOAA 30-yr Normals
Annual Rainfall
34-44 inches
NOAA Climate Normals
Zone maps are averages across Vermont. Your yard's slope, trees, and frost pockets shift what actually grows — see your land's exact reading.
The soil types that dominate Vermont — how each drains decides more about crop success than almost anything else. Tap any soil to learn what it is and how to work with it.
Drainage
Variable by the shovelful. Sandy till drains freely; dense, compacted till (hardpan) can perch water above it after snowmelt and heavy rain.
What thrives
Apples, stone fruits, brambles, and the whole northern vegetable garden do well on till — much of New England and the upper Midwest farms it. Deep-rooted perennials work through the stony structure happily.
Drainage
Slow. Water enters clay reluctantly and leaves it the same way, so wet springs keep it cold and unworkable longer than lighter soils.
What thrives
Once established, heavy feeders prosper — brassicas, beans, corn, and many fruit trees ride clay’s nutrient supply and summer moisture reserve. Daylilies, roses, and prairie perennials handle it without complaint.
Drainage
Moderate. Silt holds water well and releases it steadily, though the fine particles can crust after hard rain and compact under traffic.
What thrives
The full vegetable garden does well here, and small grains, corn, and leafy greens are classic silt-loam crops. Its steady moisture suits shallow-rooted plants that dislike drought stress.
See the glacial-till profile — rocky loam is the same stone-threaded ground.
Drainage
Good. The stones keep channels open through the profile, and rocky ground rarely waterlogs.
What thrives
Fruit trees, brambles, asparagus, herbs, and deep-rooted perennials thread between the stones happily. Root crops that need clean, straight runs — long carrots, parsnips — prefer a picked-over or raised bed.
Soil data: USDA NRCS SSURGO · Soil types explained
Plants well-suited to Vermont's climate, soils, and growing season — each links to its full growing profile.
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Across Vermont, cool-season planting typically opens about four weeks before the local last hard freeze — county medians put that freeze near Apr 20, with the middle half of counties between Apr 17 and Apr 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender transplants wait two to three weeks past it, and fall planting counts back from first freezes mostly between Oct 29 and Nov 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Even past midsummer there is room for a true fall garden here, and garlic planted near the close carries the momentum into next year.
The plants Vermont put its name on — cultural emblems, not growing recommendations.
Trifolium pratense
Designated 1894. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Acer saccharum
Designated 1949. In our plant library — see its full growing profile.
Gilfeather Turnip
Designated 2015.
Plants the USDA PLANTS Database documents as native and present in Vermont — a real per-state range, not just a zone match. Presence is statewide, so a plant may still be uncommon in your specific county; your state’s Cooperative Extension or a native-plant society is the local authority.
US-native plants whose hardiness range overlaps Vermont’s USDA zones 3b-5b but which USDA PLANTS doesn’t map to a single state range here. Zone overlap is a starting filter, not a range map.
What an experienced grower plans around here — each one has a move.
Short growing season (100-130 frost-free days)
Indoor starts, fast varieties, and a cold frame on each shoulder — the Vermont formula for making 110 days feel like 150.
Rocky soils throughout the Green Mountains
Raised beds spare you the stone harvest — build up over cleared ground and plant the same weekend.
Heavy clay in the Champlain Valley
Champlain clay holds spring water late — raised or mounded beds dry out and warm up weeks earlier for planting.
For cultivar selection, pest pressure, and planting-time guidance specific to Vermont, the UVM Extension is the authoritative local source.
Safe to Grow Here?What the federal record shows across Vermont — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Vermont — 6,987 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 41 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Vermont carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Severity Distribution
across Vermont
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
State averages sketch the shape. Your soil, sun exposure, drainage, and microclimate decide what actually takes. Pull a site-specific report for your exact parcel.
Enter your address. We read your soil, sun, drainage, and frost dates, then score 1,112 plants against the real conditions on your land.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources analyzed in seconds
Vermont spans USDA hardiness zones 3b-5b, per the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023. Zones reflect average annual extreme minimum temperatures from 1991–2020 weather data.
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Across Vermont, cool-season planting typically opens about four weeks before the local last hard freeze — county medians put that freeze near Apr 20, with the middle half of counties between Apr 17 and Apr 23 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender transplants wait two to three weeks past it, and fall planting counts back from first freezes mostly between Oct 29 and Nov 5 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Even past midsummer there is room for a true fall garden here, and garlic planted near the close carries the momentum into next year.
Across Vermont, the middle half of counties see their last hard freeze (28°F) between about Apr 17 and Apr 23, with a county median near Apr 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — light frosts can still bite for a few more weeks, so tender transplants usually wait another 2–3 weeks.
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, growing seasons across Vermont's counties mostly run about 189 to 202 days, with a county median near 196 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals). Tender crops get a somewhat shorter practical window, since lighter frosts reach a few weeks past the hard-freeze dates on both ends.
Vermont's zones 3b-5b support a wide range — strong performers include Sugar Maple, Apple, Garlic, Blueberry, and Kale. What actually takes on any one site comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage, and we score each plant against the real conditions at your address.
Officially, Vermont spans USDA zones 3b-5b (USDA PHZM 2023) — but a zone is a 30-year average of winter's coldest night across an area, and it can't see any one yard. A south-facing slope, a tree line, or a low frost pocket can shift a single site by half a zone either way, which is why neighboring gardeners often quote different numbers. We read the conditions at your exact address — soil, sun, slope, and frost — and score 1,112 plants against what's actually there.
The federal record across Vermont runs heavier than most — 6,987 documented sites — 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.
Start with three facts. Vermont spans USDA zones 3b-5b, which sets what survives winter; last hard freezes range from about Apr 17 to Apr 23 across its counties (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and 6,987 documented sites sit on the federal record here, so a soil test before food beds is the smart first step. From there, matching plants to your actual soil and sun is the fun part.
Everything on this page is a Vermont average. Your yard writes its own version — we read soil, sun, drainage, and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Explore growing conditions by county — each has its own zone range and land area.
Explore growing conditions by city or town in Vermont.
Vermont shares its dominant growing region with these states — a useful comparison if you're weighing where a crop will behave the same way.
