Port Ludlow, Washington, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
Reliable performers under these conditions include kale, potato, garlic, and western red cedar; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Port Ludlow, 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 Port Ludlow 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 Port Ludlow — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Port Ludlow — the short answer
Port Ludlow, Washington: USDA zone 8b, about 187 days between hard freezes, across 7K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- May 1
- Jefferson County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 4
- Jefferson County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~187
- Jefferson County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 7K 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 Jefferson County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Port Ludlow's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Port Ludlow's 187-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Port Ludlow
Each reading below is measured for Port Ludlow itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsPort Ludlow runs about 187 days between hard freezes (read from Jefferson County, the closest normal to Port Ludlow) — 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
MeasuredPort Ludlow 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
What Grows in Port Ludlow
Plants matched to Port Ludlow's USDA zones 8b, ordered by how much hardiness margin each has here — the ones with room to spare at both ends of this town's band lead. Each links to its full growing profile.
Is it too late to plant in Port Ludlow?
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 Apr 3; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 1 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 4 — 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.
What's on the federal record near Port Ludlow
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Port Ludlow. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- PORT LUDLOW VILLAGE STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 2600 ft
- PORT LUDLOW GOLF COURSEUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- JEFFERSON COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT 3Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- PORT LUDLOW MARINAUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- LUDLOW UTILITIES COMPANYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.0 mi
- BEAVER VALLEY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- WILLIAM D BARKER BARKERS COUNTRY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.8 mi
- CHARAWELL CONSTRUCTION INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.0 mi
- EAST JEFFERSON FIRE RESCUEBrownfields · 2.2 mi
- MATS MATS QUARRYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.8 mi
- 28N/01E-33N01Nitrate · 3.1 mi
- EDWIN UDDUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Port Ludlow'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 Port Ludlow.
Total Sites
134
within ~10 miles of Port Ludlow
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Port Ludlow
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Port Ludlow
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Port Ludlow, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 56 sites within ~10 miles of Port Ludlow. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about 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).
Check your specific parcel in Port Ludlow
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 Port Ludlow average
Your land is one point inside Port Ludlow
Everything above resolves to Port Ludlow as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 7K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Jefferson County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’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 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 Port Ludlow Average
Port Ludlow Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Port Ludlow
- ●One soil character for all of Port Ludlow
- ●Frost dates read at Port Ludlow's scale: May 1 to Nov 4
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Port Ludlow's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Port Ludlow
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Port Ludlow, Washington — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Port Ludlow averages can't show:
We read public map data around Port Ludlow — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Port Ludlow average
How we know this about Port Ludlow
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 Jefferson 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 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 Port Ludlow
When does frost risk typically end in Port Ludlow?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Port Ludlow typically lands around May 1, 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 22.
When is the first frost in Port Ludlow?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Port Ludlow typically arrives around Nov 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 21, so the watching starts about Oct 5 — about 187 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Port Ludlow?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Port Ludlow sees about 187 frost-free days — roughly May 1 through Nov 4, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 22 to Oct 21, about 152 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Port Ludlow?
The federal record around Port Ludlow is a meaningful one — 134 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (62), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Port Ludlow?
From about Oct 5 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 4 (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 4. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Port Ludlow's scale — its 8b band and its 187-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Port Ludlow'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 Port Ludlow’s own scale
3 of the readings below were taken at Port Ludlow's own scale — the 7,379 acres it covers and 134 documented sites around it; 6 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Port Ludlow's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 134 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Port Ludlow, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Port Ludlow's boundary and the 7,379 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Port Ludlow has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Jefferson County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Port Ludlow's 7,379 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Jefferson County
- The candidate plant list — Washington's curated set, filtered to this zone band and re-ordered by how much margin each has herefrom Washington
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Jefferson 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 Jefferson County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Port Ludlow's 7,379 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Port Ludlow you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 7,379 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks 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 Port Ludlow-wide figureread your own land →