Norfolk city, in Virginia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
Well-matched crops include cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, and the gap between "grows in the area" and "grows in your yard" is closed by soil, sun, and drainage.
Norfolk city lies within the Hampton Roads / Coastal Southeast Virginia and Tidewater & Chesapeake — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Norfolk city holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Norfolk city, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. 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 Norfolk city — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Norfolk city — the short answer
Norfolk city, Virginia: USDA zone 8b, about 287 days between hard freezes, across 34K acres.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 26
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 10
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~287
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 34K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 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
Zone 8b is Norfolk city's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Norfolk city's 287-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat and winter chill in Norfolk city
Across a year, Norfolk city accumulates about 4,643 growing degree days above 50°F, about 909 more than the middle Virginia county — ahead of every other Virginia county. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Winter banks about 1,470 hours below 45°F, 968 fewer than the Virginia middle of 2,438. Chill is what tells a fruit tree its dormancy is over, and it is set by climate rather than by anything you can build.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Norfolk County
Across Norfolk County, the ground is predominantly Ultisols, where Chickahominy, Axis, and Craven are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally moderately well drained with a fine sandy loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 4.2–5.8, very strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group D soils.
Soil order
Ultisols
Drainage
Moderately well drained
Hydric soils
40%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Norfolk city
The USDA soil survey maps 26% of Norfolk city as moderately well drained — but another 39% drains differently: 19% poorly drained, 9% very poorly drained.
Chickahominy is the most extensive named soil at 17% of mapped acres, then Axis (12%) and Craven (10%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Norfolk city
Each reading below is measured for Norfolk city itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Norfolk city are moderately well drained, in hydrologic group D — roughly the middle of the drainage range.
This is close to the middle most vegetables prefer: it holds enough water to carry a crop between rains without staying waterlogged. The catch is that a wet spring or a low corner can still tip it soggy.
Plant on the site as-is for most crops, but keep the lowest, slowest-draining beds for moisture-tolerant plantings.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Norfolk city runs about pH 4.2–5.8, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 40% of Norfolk city is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredNorfolk city runs about 287 days between hard freezes — 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
The kind of country Norfolk city is in
Norfolk city sits in the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Norfolk city
We scored all 1,086 plants against Norfolk city's own USDA zone 8b and its own 287-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Virginia profile.
Is it too late to plant in Norfolk city?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 29; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 26 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 10 — 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.
Documented around Norfolk city
Spotted lanternfly documented 18 miles from Norfolk city, first recorded 2023. What to watch for.
- Japanese beetle1 documented records
- monarch butterfly318 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Norfolk County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Norfolk County — 1,123 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 2 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Norfolk County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Norfolk city
Closest first, across Norfolk County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- Hollidays Food MartUnderground Storage Tanks · 2300 ft
- GROOME TRANSPORTATION, INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
- GMK CORP-SSS CARWASHUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- RIMS & MORE USED TIRESUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- EASTERN AUTO DISTRIBUTORS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- PMG E and C - VA 539Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- FAST FARE INC T/A CROWN VA-539Brownfields · 0.6 mi
- TAYLOR RENTAL CENTER #2106Brownfields · 0.6 mi
- WAWA FOOD MARKET #8604Brownfields · 0.6 mi
- Hills Little Creek TexacoUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- CVS PHARMACY #1826Brownfields · 0.6 mi
- Wawa Food Market 8604Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Norfolk 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 Norfolk city.
Sources Checked
across Norfolk County
Severity Distribution
across Norfolk County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Norfolk city, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 712 sites across Norfolk County. 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.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Norfolk 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 Norfolk city average
Your land is one point inside Norfolk city
Everything above resolves to Norfolk city as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 34K 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 county 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 county average.
Your Lot vs the Norfolk city Average
Norfolk city Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Norfolk city
- ●One soil character for all of Norfolk city
- ●Frost dates read at Norfolk city's scale: Feb 26 to Dec 10
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Norfolk city's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Norfolk city
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Norfolk city, Virginia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Norfolk city averages can't show:
We read public map data around Norfolk city — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Norfolk city average
How we know this about Norfolk city
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Norfolk city carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Norfolk city
When does frost risk typically end in Norfolk city?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Norfolk city typically lands around Feb 26, 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 19.
How long is the growing season in Norfolk city?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Norfolk city sees about 287 frost-free days — roughly Feb 26 through Dec 10, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 19 to Nov 26, about 252 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Norfolk city?
The federal record around Norfolk city is a meaningful one — 1,123 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (712), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks 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.
Everything above is measured at Norfolk city's scale — its 8b band and its 287-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Norfolk city's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Virginia's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Norfolk city’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Norfolk city's own scale — its own ~287-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 1,123 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Norfolk city's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Norfolk city's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~287-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Norfolk cityUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 1,123 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.4 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Norfolk city's boundary and the 34,096 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~287-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Norfolk city sitting wholly inside the Middle Atlantic Coastal PlainUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Norfolk city for 2 tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Virginia grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Virginia
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Norfolk city — the ~287 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Norfolk city's 34,096 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 1,123 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Norfolk cityread your own land →