What Grows in Marysville, Washington

USDA Zones 8b · 13K acres

Marysville, Washington, 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.

Crops well matched to these conditions include cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — though what thrives on any one site still turns on its specific soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

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

No card required · your full report in seconds

Marysville — the short answer

Marysville, Washington: USDA zone 8b, about 208 days between hard freezes, across 13K acres of city.

USDA zone
8b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 15
Snohomish County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Nov 9
Snohomish County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~208
Snohomish County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
City area
13K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Snohomish County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

8b8b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 8b is Marysville's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Marysville's 208-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Marysville

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

Season length

From county records

Marysville runs about 208 days between hard freezes (read from Snohomish County, the closest normal to Marysville) — 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

Marysville sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.

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 Marysville is in

Marysville sits in the Puget Lowland — EPA Level III, inside the wider Marine West Coast Forest. That is read at Marysville's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Snohomish County is mostly North Cascades. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Marysville

Every plant below cleared Marysville's own zone 8b and its 208-day season. Each card opens that plant's Washington profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in WashingtonZones 2–11Marysville's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
fig, photograph
Washington fig guideZones 6–10Marysville's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in WashingtonZones 6–10Marysville's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Washington growing notesZones 2–11Marysville's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
loquat, photograph
Growing loquat in WashingtonZones 7–10Marysville's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
rosemary, photograph
Washington rosemary guideZones 8–10Marysville's 8b is its exact cold limit.
kale, photograph
Kale in WashingtonZones 2–11Marysville's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear: Washington growing notesZones 5–10Marysville's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Growing lavender in WashingtonZones 5–8Marysville's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Washington lentil guideZones 2–11Marysville's 208 days clear the ~70 it needs.
pomegranate, photograph
Pomegranate in WashingtonZones 7–10Marysville's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Washington growing notesZones 2–12Marysville's 208 days clear the ~50 it needs.
grape, photograph
Growing grape in WashingtonZones 6–9Marysville's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
potato, photograph
Washington potato guideZones 2–11Marysville's 8b — 6 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in WashingtonZones 3–11Marysville's 208 days clear the ~40 it needs.
iris, photograph
Iris: Washington growing notesZones 3–10Marysville's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in WashingtonZones 2–11Marysville's 208 days clear the ~70 it needs.
holly, photograph
Washington holly guideZones 5–11Marysville's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in WashingtonZones 3–8Marysville's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Washington growing notesZones 3–8Marysville's 8b — 5 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in WashingtonMarysville's 208 days clear the ~50 it needs.
mountain laurel, photograph
Washington mountain laurel guideZones 5–11Marysville's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
scarlet runner bean, photograph
Scarlet runner bean in WashingtonZones 7–11Marysville's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: Washington growing notesZones 6–8Marysville's 8b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Growing douglas fir in WashingtonZones 4–10Marysville's 8b — 4 zones of cold margin.
pearl millet, photograph
Washington pearl millet guideZones 5–11Marysville's 208 days clear the ~60 it needs.
ajuga, photograph
Ajuga in WashingtonZones 5–11Marysville's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.
live oak, photograph
Live oak: Washington growing notesZones 7–10Marysville's 8b — 1 zone of cold margin.
phacelia, photograph
Growing phacelia in WashingtonZones 2–11Marysville's 208 days clear the ~100 it needs.
liriope, photograph
Washington liriope guideZones 5–11Marysville's 8b — 3 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Marysville?

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 18; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 15 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 9 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. With a season this long, “too late” mostly means “switch crops” — second sowings and a full fall garden are the norm, with garlic closing the year.

What's on the federal record near Marysville

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

  1. 30N/05E-16J01Nitrate · 2400 ft
  2. CRAIG MCCULLY RESIDENCEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.5 mi
  3. GRACE BAPTIST CHURCHUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi
  4. 30N/05E-15H01Nitrate · 0.8 mi
  5. CEDARCREST GOLF COURSEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  6. 7-ELEVEN 2306-29536AUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  7. FRED MEYER 209 FM FUELUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
  8. PILCHUCK CLEANERSBrownfields · 0.9 mi
  9. MARYSVILLE FIRE DISTRICT RFABrownfields · 0.9 mi
  10. PRECISION TUNE MARYSVILLEBrownfields · 1.0 mi
  11. QUIK STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
  12. CAMANO CRUISERS INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi

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

Measured from Marysville'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 Marysville.

Total Sites

871

within ~10 miles of Marysville

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

5 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Marysville

High1Moderate432Low438

Highest-Severity Sites

Tulalip Landfill
Superfund · Superfund NPL
28N/05E-02g04
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
28N/05E-02g04
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
28N/05E-03r01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well
28N/05E-03r01
Nitrate Monitoring · Well

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Marysville, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 276 sites within ~10 miles of Marysville. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.

Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Marysville

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 Marysville average

Your land is one point inside Marysville

Everything above resolves to Marysville as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 13K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Snohomish County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this city’s own centroid. 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 Marysville Average

Marysville Average

  • USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Marysville
  • One soil character for all of Marysville
  • Frost dates read at Marysville's scale: Apr 15 to Nov 9

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Marysville's 8b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Marysville

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Marysville averages 208Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Marysville

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 Snohomish County’s record, because none resolves here; 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 Marysville

When does frost risk typically end in Marysville?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Marysville typically lands around Apr 15, 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 6.

When is the first frost in Marysville?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Marysville typically arrives around Nov 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 26, so the watching starts about Oct 10 — about 208 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Marysville?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Marysville sees about 208 frost-free days — roughly Apr 15 through Nov 9, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 6 to Oct 26, about 173 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Marysville?

The federal record around Marysville is a meaningful one — 871 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (403), the nearest Nitrate record about 0.5 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 Marysville?

From about Oct 10 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 9 (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 9. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Marysville's scale — its 8b band and its 208-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Marysville'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 Marysville’s own scale

5 of the readings below were taken at Marysville's own scale — the 13,282 acres it covers and 871 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Marysville's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • 871 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Marysville, the closest Nitrate record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Marysville's boundary and the 13,282 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~208-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • Marysville sits in the Puget Lowland — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Marysville has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Snohomish County
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Marysville's 13,282 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Snohomish County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Snohomish County
  • The growing challenges every Washington grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Washington
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Snohomish County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Marysville's 13,282 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Marysville you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 13,282 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Nitrate record about 0.5 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 Marysville-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address