What Grows in Morrisville, Vermont

USDA Zones 4b · 1K acres

Morrisville, Vermont, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, cranberry, turkish rocket, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Morrisville — the short answer

Morrisville, Vermont: USDA zone 4b, about 158 days between hard freezes, across 1K acres of town.

USDA zone
4b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
May 6
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 11
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~158
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
1K 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

4b4b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 4b is Morrisville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Morrisville's 158-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Morrisville

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

Season length

Measured

Morrisville runs about 158 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.

There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.

Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Morrisville sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b.

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 Morrisville is in

Morrisville sits in the Northeastern Highlands — EPA Level III, inside the wider Northern Forests. That is read at Morrisville's own centroid rather than borrowed from Lamoille County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Morrisville

Every plant below cleared Morrisville's own zone 4b and its 158-day season. Each card opens that plant's Vermont profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in VermontZones 2–11Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Vermont cranberry guideZones 2–7Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Turkish rocket in VermontMorrisville's 158 days clear the ~90 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Vermont growing notesZones 2–11Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in VermontZones 4–9Morrisville's 4b is its exact cold limit.
cilantro, photograph
Vermont cilantro guideZones 2–11Morrisville's 158 days clear the ~35 it needs.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in VermontZones 2–10Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Vermont growing notesZones 3–8Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
epazote, photograph
Growing epazote in VermontMorrisville's 158 days clear the ~60 it needs.
kale, photograph
Vermont kale guideZones 2–11Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
apple, photograph
Apple in VermontZones 3–8Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Vermont growing notesZones 2–11Morrisville's 158 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in VermontZones 2–12Morrisville's 158 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Vermont potato guideZones 2–11Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
rhubarb, photograph
Rhubarb in VermontZones 2–8Morrisville's 158 days clear the ~60 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Vermont growing notesZones 3–8Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in VermontZones 2–11Morrisville's 158 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Vermont azalea guideZones 4–8Morrisville's 4b is its exact cold limit.
hops, photograph
Hops in VermontZones 3–8Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Vermont growing notesZones 3–10Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in VermontMorrisville's 158 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Vermont lilac guideZones 4–10Morrisville's 4b is its exact cold limit.
riverbank grape, photograph
Riverbank grape in VermontZones 2–8Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Siberian squill, photograph
Siberian squill: Vermont growing notesZones 2–8Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Growing blue spruce in VermontZones 2–8Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
field pea, photograph
Vermont field pea guideZones 2–10Morrisville's 158 days clear the ~60 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in VermontZones 2–7Morrisville's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
American elm: Vermont growing notesZones 3–9Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Growing triticale in VermontMorrisville's 158 days clear the ~90 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Vermont canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Morrisville's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Morrisville?

For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 8; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 6 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 11 — 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.

Documented around Morrisville

Survey cells within 31 miles of Morrisville checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 60 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Morrisville

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

  1. COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES OF LAMOILLE VALLEYBrownfields · 1100 ft
  2. Copley Country Club Golf CourseUnderground Storage Tanks · 1100 ft
  3. COPLEY HOSPITALBrownfields · 1100 ft
  4. Morrisville Street Department GarageUnderground Storage Tanks · 1200 ft
  5. MORRISTOWN HIGHWAY GARAGEBrownfields · 1200 ft
  6. Hutchins GarageUnderground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
  7. Arthur's Dept StoreUnderground Storage Tanks · 1500 ft
  8. RICHARDS AUTO BODY & REPAIR SHOPBrownfields · 1600 ft
  9. MOUNT MANSFIELD DENTISTRYBrownfields · 1600 ft
  10. VT ARMY NATL GUARD MORRISVILLE ARMORYBrownfields · 1900 ft
  11. Morristown Fire DepartmentUnderground Storage Tanks · 2100 ft
  12. Rite AidUnderground Storage Tanks · 2500 ft

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

Measured from Morrisville'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 Morrisville.

Total Sites

232

within ~10 miles of Morrisville

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

6 mining sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Morrisville

High0Moderate42Low190

Highest-Severity Sites

2 Apartment Residence
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Alpine Mart
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Arthur'S Dept Store
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Bourne'S Shell Foodmart
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Bull Estate
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Morrisville, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 117 sites within ~10 miles of Morrisville. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties where legacy soil contamination (heavy metals, PAHs, petroleum compounds) may persist.

Check EPA brownfield remediation status — many sites have completed cleanup with institutional controls.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Morrisville

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 Morrisville average

Your land is one point inside Morrisville

Everything above resolves to Morrisville as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 1K 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 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 Morrisville Average

Morrisville Average

  • USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Morrisville
  • One soil character for all of Morrisville
  • Frost dates read at Morrisville's scale: May 6 to Oct 11

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Morrisville's 4b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Morrisville

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Morrisville averages 158Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Morrisville

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 Morrisville’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 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 Morrisville

When does frost risk typically end in Morrisville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Morrisville typically lands around May 6, 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 May 27.

When is the first frost in Morrisville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Morrisville typically arrives around Oct 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 27, so the watching starts about Sep 11 — about 158 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Morrisville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Morrisville sees about 158 frost-free days — roughly May 6 through Oct 11, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 27 to Sep 27, about 123 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Morrisville?

The federal record around Morrisville is a meaningful one — 232 documented sites, mostly Brownfields entries (117), the nearest Brownfields 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 Morrisville?

From about Sep 11 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 Oct 11 (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 Oct 11. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Morrisville's scale — its 4b band and its 158-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Morrisville'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 Morrisville’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Morrisville's own scale — its own ~158-day season between 28°F freezes, the 1,252 acres it covers and 232 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Morrisville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Morrisville's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about May 6 and Oct 11 and the ~158-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 232 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Morrisville, the closest Brownfields record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Morrisville's boundary and the 1,252 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~158-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Morrisville's own centroid, the Northeastern HighlandsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Morrisville checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Morrisville's 1,252 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Lamoille County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Lamoille County
  • The growing challenges every Vermont grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Vermont
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Lamoille County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Morrisville's 1,252 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Morrisville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,252 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields 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 Morrisville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in Vermont

Wider growing context

What grows across Vermont

Morrisville sits outside our named growing regions, so Vermont as a whole is its closest context here.