Radford city, in Virginia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Among the crops suited to this profile: cabbage, pawpaw, california poppy, and collard greens. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.
Radford city lies within Appalachia — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Radford city holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Radford 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 Radford city — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Radford city — the short answer
Radford city, Virginia: USDA zone 7a, about 202 days between hard freezes, across 6K acres.
- USDA zone
- 7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 6
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 25
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~202
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 6K 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 7a is Radford city's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Radford city's 202-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat in Radford city
Across a year, Radford city accumulates about 3,024 growing degree days above 50°F, about 710 fewer than the middle Virginia county — ahead of 13 of Virginia’s 133 counties. 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.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Radford County
Detailed USDA soil-survey (SSURGO) mapping is limited across Radford County, so there isn't a reliable county-wide soil summary to show here yet — a gap in the national survey, not in the ground itself.
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Radford city
Each reading below is measured for Radford city itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredRadford city runs about 202 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
MeasuredRadford 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 Radford city is in
Radford city sits in the Ridge and Valley — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Radford city
We scored all 1,086 plants against Radford city's own USDA zone 7a and its own 202-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 Radford 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 Mar 9; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 6 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 25 — 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.
Documented around Radford city
Spotted lanternfly documented 2 miles from Radford city, first recorded 2022. What to watch for.
- monarch butterfly514 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Radford County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Radford County — 88 documented sites across 5 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed). 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 Radford 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 Radford city
Closest first, across Radford County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- NEW RIVER VALLEY WORKSHOP INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 600 ft
- KOLLMORGEN CORPORATIONToxics Release Inventory · 1000 ft
- KOLLMORGEN CORPORATIONBrownfields · 1000 ft
- RADFORD CITY SCHOOLSBrownfields · 1800 ft
- NEW RIVER ENERGETICS - RADFORD ARMY AMMUNITION PLANTSuperfund · 1900 ft
- CITY GARAGE / PUBLIC WORKS BLDGUnderground Storage Tanks · 2500 ft
- CASSCO ICE & COLD STORAGE INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- RITTERS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- NORFOLK & WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- INTERSTATE BRANDS CORPUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- McDowall and Woods IncorporatedUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- BEACON LIGHT MARINAUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Radford 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 Radford city.
Total Sites
88
across Radford County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Radford County
Severity Distribution
across Radford County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Radford city, two things run higher than the national average across Radford County — Toxics Release Inventory (6 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (58 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Radford 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 Radford city average
Your land is one point inside Radford city
Everything above resolves to Radford city as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 6K 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 Radford city Average
Radford city Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Radford city
- ●One soil character for all of Radford city
- ●Frost dates read at Radford city's scale: Apr 6 to Oct 25
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Radford city's 7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Radford city
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Radford city, Virginia — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Radford city averages can't show:
We read public map data around Radford city — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Radford city average
How we know this about Radford 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 Radford city carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Radford city
When does frost risk typically end in Radford city?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Radford city typically lands around Apr 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 Apr 27.
How long is the growing season in Radford city?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Radford city sees about 202 frost-free days — roughly Apr 6 through Oct 25, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 27 to Oct 11, about 167 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Radford city?
The federal record around Radford city is a meaningful one — 88 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (58), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 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 Radford city's scale — its 7a band and its 202-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Radford 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 Radford city’s own scale
7 of the readings below were taken at Radford city's own scale — its own ~202-day span between 28°F freezes and 88 documented sites inside its boundary; 2 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Radford city's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Radford city's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~202-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 88 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.1 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Radford city's boundary and the 6,193 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~202-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Radford city sitting wholly inside the Ridge and ValleyUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Radford city for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
Inherited from a wider read
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Radford city — the ~202 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 Radford city's 6,193 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 88 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 Radford cityread your own land →