What Grows in Allouez, Wisconsin

USDA Zones 5b · 3K acres

Allouez, Wisconsin, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.

A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.

Score your parcel · free

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

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Allouez — the short answer

Allouez, Wisconsin: USDA zone 5b, about 184 days between hard freezes, across 3K acres of town.

USDA zone
5b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 21
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 22
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~184
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
3K 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

5b5b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 5b is Allouez's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Allouez's 184-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Allouez

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

Season length

Measured

Allouez runs about 184 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

Allouez sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.

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 Allouez is in

Allouez sits in the Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Allouez's own centroid rather than borrowed from Brown County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Allouez

Every plant below cleared Allouez's own zone 5b and its 184-day season. Each card opens that plant's Wisconsin profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in WisconsinZones 2–11Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Wisconsin cranberry guideZones 2–7Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
Lavender in WisconsinZones 5–8Allouez's 5b is its exact cold limit.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Wisconsin growing notesZones 2–11Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in WisconsinZones 4–9Allouez's 5b — 1 zone of cold margin.
St. Johns wort, photograph
Wisconsin st. johns wort guideZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in WisconsinZones 2–10Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Wisconsin growing notesZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in WisconsinAllouez's 184 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
Wisconsin kale guideZones 2–11Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
blackberry, photograph
Blackberry in WisconsinZones 5–8Allouez's 5b is its exact cold limit.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: Wisconsin growing notesZones 2–11Allouez's 184 days clear the ~70 it needs.
okra, photograph
Growing okra in WisconsinZones 2–12Allouez's 184 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Wisconsin potato guideZones 2–11Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
pumpkin, photograph
Pumpkin in WisconsinZones 3–11Allouez's 184 days clear the ~40 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Wisconsin growing notesZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in WisconsinZones 2–11Allouez's 184 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Wisconsin azalea guideZones 4–8Allouez's 5b — 1 zone of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in WisconsinZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Wisconsin growing notesZones 3–10Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in WisconsinAllouez's 184 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Wisconsin lilac guideZones 4–10Allouez's 5b — 1 zone of cold margin.
American bittersweet, photograph
American bittersweet in WisconsinZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
Canada anemone, photograph
Canada anemone: Wisconsin growing notesZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in WisconsinZones 3–9Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.
alfalfa, photograph
Wisconsin alfalfa guideZones 2–10Allouez's 184 days clear the ~100 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in WisconsinZones 2–7Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Blue spruce: Wisconsin growing notesZones 2–8Allouez's 5b — 3 zones of cold margin.
annual ryegrass, photograph
Growing annual ryegrass in WisconsinZones 3–10Allouez's 184 days clear the ~90 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Wisconsin canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Allouez's 5b — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Allouez?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 24; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 21 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 22 — 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 Allouez

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

  1. ALLOUEZ VIL WATER DEPTBrownfields · 950 ft
  2. HERITAGE HILL STATE HISTORICAL PARKBrownfields · 950 ft
  3. CEREBRAL PALSY INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
  4. ROBERT E LEE & ASSOCIATESBrownfields · 2200 ft
  5. ROYAL CLEANERSBrownfields · 0.5 mi
  6. QUIK MART #30492Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  7. CVS PHARMACY #8535Brownfields · 0.6 mi
  8. BN-23/20E/12-0024Nitrate · 0.6 mi
  9. Allouez Catholic CemeteryUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  10. Kwik Trip #1030Underground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  11. AMOCO OIL COUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
  12. ALLOUEZ WATER DEPTUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.7 mi

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

Measured from Allouez'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 Allouez.

Total Sites

1,656

within ~10 miles of Allouez

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

10 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Allouez

High5Moderate378Low1,273

Highest-Severity Sites

Fox River Nrda/PCB Releases
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Ledgeview Tn Sanitary Dist 2
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
Suamico Waterworks
PFAS Sampling · PFAS Detected
A W Chesterton CO Protective Floorings & Linings Div.
Toxics Release Inventory · 54115prtct29ent

A note from Gnorman

What an experienced grower watches for around here

In and around Allouez, Toxics Release Inventory runs higher than the national average — 110 sites within ~10 miles of Allouez. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.

Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.

Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.

Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Allouez

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 Allouez average

Your land is one point inside Allouez

Everything above resolves to Allouez as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 3K 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 Allouez Average

Allouez Average

  • USDA Zones 5b, averaged across Allouez
  • One soil character for all of Allouez
  • Frost dates read at Allouez's scale: Apr 21 to Oct 22

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Allouez's 5b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Allouez

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Allouez averages 184Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Allouez

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 Allouez’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 Allouez

When does frost risk typically end in Allouez?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Allouez typically lands around Apr 21, 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 12.

When is the first frost in Allouez?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Allouez typically arrives around Oct 22, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 8, so the watching starts about Sep 22 — about 184 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Allouez?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Allouez sees about 184 frost-free days — roughly Apr 21 through Oct 22, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 12 to Oct 8, about 149 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Allouez?

The federal record around Allouez is a meaningful one — 1,656 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (839), 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 Allouez?

From about Sep 22 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 22 (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 22. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Allouez's scale — its 5b band and its 184-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Allouez'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 Allouez’s own scale

6 of the readings below were taken at Allouez's own scale — its own ~184-day season between 28°F freezes, the 2,922 acres it covers and 1,656 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Allouez's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Allouez's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 21 and Oct 22 and the ~184-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 1,656 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Allouez, the closest Brownfields record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Allouez's boundary and the 2,922 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~184-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Allouez's own centroid, the Southeastern Wisconsin Till PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Allouez's 2,922 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Brown County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Brown County
  • The growing challenges every Wisconsin grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Wisconsin
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Brown County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Allouez's 2,922 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Allouez you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 2,922 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 Allouez-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in Wisconsin

Wider growing context

What grows across Wisconsin

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