Oklahoma
Planting zones in Jefferson County, Oklahoma
Every ZIP code in this county is USDA zone 8a — so unlike most of the places people look up, there is one right answer here and it holds wherever you are in the county.
Your ZIP code
Get the exact answer for your address
Everything above describes Jefferson County, Oklahoma as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.
The growing season in Jefferson County is closing
Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives November 5 – November 8 across the 4 NOAA stations serving this county .
Your next season already has a date
The first job of it is 🧅 Green Onions, start indoors, around January 26 – February 1 — counted back from a last spring freeze of March 23 – March 29 here.
These are ranges across the whole county. The ZIP lookup above gives the dates from your own nearest station instead.
All 4 stations agreeAt least one station
Every one of the 4 NOAA stations serving this county counts March 29 – November 5 as growing season (221 days). Widening to any single station gives March 23 – November 8 (230 days).
Your freeze dates
Across the 4 NOAA stations serving this county. These are medians — half of years freeze later than the date shown — so treat the later end of each range as the cautious one.
The growing season runs 223–229 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 93.5–94.8 °F in June–August. That is past the point where tomato and pepper pollen fails and cool-season greens bolt, so in this county heat decides as much as frost does. Summer rain over the same months runs 9.0–9.2" across those 2 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. The middle station covers about 70% of it, so expect to make up the rest. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 94 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.
Every ZIP code in Jefferson County
Zones are published per ZIP code, not per county, so this is the exact answer rather than the county's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.
| ZIP code | USDA zone | Nearest NOAA station | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73456 | 8a | Ringling 1N Mesonet, OK | 9.9 km |
| 73520 | 8a | Waurika, OK | 10.6 km |
| 73565 | 8a | Waurika 1Ene Mesonet, OK | 18.6 km |
| 73569 | 8a | Bonita 7Nw, TX | 13.8 km |
| 73573 | 8a | Waurika 1Ene Mesonet, OK | 3.6 km |
ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.
When to start seeds in Jefferson County
Every date below is anchored on the last spring freeze at each station and reported as a range across all 4 of them, because no one station speaks for the county.
| Crop | Job | When | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🧅 Green Onions | Start indoors | January 26 – February 1 | 8 wk before |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Start indoors | January 26 – February 1 | 8 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🫛 Peas | Direct sow | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Spinach | Direct sow | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Start indoors | February 9 – February 15 | 6 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Start indoors | February 16 – February 22 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Start indoors | February 16 – February 22 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Start indoors | February 16 – February 22 | 5 wk before |
| 🥬 Arugula | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Baby Salad Greens | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🥕 Beets | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Mustard Greens | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🌶️ Okra | Start indoors | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🌱 Radishes | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🥔 Turnips | Direct sow | February 23 – March 1 | 4 wk before |
| 🥬 Cabbage | Set out | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥕 Carrots | Direct sow | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Direct sow | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Collards | Set out | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Start indoors | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🧅 Green Onions | Set out | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Direct sow | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kale | Set out | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Direct sow | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Kohlrabi | Set out | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Direct sow | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Start indoors | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Start indoors | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Start indoors | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Start indoors | March 2 – March 8 | 3 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Direct sow | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Bok Choy | Set out | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🥦 Broccoli | Set out | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Cilantro | Direct sow | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Leaf Lettuce | Set out | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Direct sow | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🥬 Swiss Chard | Set out | March 9 – March 15 | 2 wk before |
| 🌿 Dill | Direct sow | March 16 – March 22 | 1 wk before |
| 🫘 Bush Beans | Direct sow | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Set out | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Direct sow | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Pumpkins | Set out | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Direct sow | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Summer Squash | Set out | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🌽 Sweet Corn | Direct sow | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🍅 Tomatoes | Set out | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Direct sow | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🎃 Winter Squash | Set out | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Direct sow | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Zucchini | Set out | March 30 – April 5 | 1 wk after |
| 🥒 Cucumbers | Direct sow | April 6 – April 12 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Direct sow | April 6 – April 12 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Okra | Set out | April 6 – April 12 | 2 wk after |
| 🌶️ Peppers | Set out | April 6 – April 12 | 2 wk after |
| 🫘 Southern Peas | Direct sow | April 6 – April 12 | 2 wk after |
| 🍠 Sweet Potato | Set out | April 6 – April 12 | 2 wk after |
Offsets are published guidance; the dates they land on are computed from measured NOAA normals. The seed-starting tool does this for your own ZIP code and counts the days.
What lives through a zone 8a winter
Of 74 perennial edibles, 57 come through a zone 8a winter — and 8 fail here for being too warm rather than too cold, needing more winter chill than this county gets or more heat than they tolerate. Among the ones that work: Apple, Aronia, Elderberry, Summer Raspberry, Asparagus, Horseradish, Rhubarb, Sunchoke.
Hardiness ranges are a judgement, published by growers rather than measured; the zone they are compared against is measured. On a warm-end verdict, check with your local extension service — a coastal zone 8 and an inland zone 8 are not the same summer.
Cautious — shortens the seasonMedian across stationsOptimistic
- Last spring freeze
- Plan to April 19 to be careful. Median March 23 – March 29 across 4 stations; March 3 is the optimistic end.
- First fall freeze
- Plan to October 23 to be careful. Median November 5 – November 8 across 4 stations; November 27 is the optimistic end.
NOAA publishes these as probabilities, not averages — the middle figure is a median, so half of years fall either side of it. The cautious end is the 10% tail: in roughly nine years in ten the freeze falls on the safe side of it.
The 4 stations behind these numbers
All 4 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 42 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole county.
A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.
These are the stations this county's ZIP codes actually cite as nearest — not a claim that each one sits inside its boundary, since a rural ZIP legitimately reaches over it. Every figure above comes from them, and each is named so you can check it.
| Station | NOAA ID | Last spring freeze | First fall freeze | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonita 7Nw, TX | USC00410926 | March 24 | November 8 | 229 days |
| Ringling 1N Mesonet, OK | USC00347640 | March 23 | November 7 | 226 days |
| Waurika 1Ene Mesonet, OK | USC00349400 | March 29 | November 5 | 223 days |
| Waurika, OK | USC00349395 | March 24 | November 8 | 228 days |
These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.
Your own ZIP
Work out your own dates
This page describes a whole county. Every tool below answers for one ZIP code, which is the grain the underlying data is published at.
Other places to compare
Jefferson County sits in Oklahoma. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.
More of Oklahoma
- Le Flore County, OK 7b–8a
- McCurtain County, OK 7b–8a
- Caddo County, OK 7b
- Carter County, OK 8a
- Muskogee County, OK 7b
- Washita County, OK 7b
- Delaware County, OK 7a
- Jackson County, OK 7b
- Payne County, OK 7a–7b
- Pottawatomie County, OK 7b
- Pushmataha County, OK 7b–8a
- Blaine County, OK 7a–7b
Counties with the same zones — 8a
Matched on the exact zone set, not a dominant zone, so the winter answer on these pages really is the same one as here.
Gear
If you want to act on this
Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.
- Shade clothSummer highs here average 94 °F, at or above the 90 °F point where lettuce and spinach bolt and tomato pollen fails.
- Row cover and frost clothThe season here closes at the first fall freeze dated above — a cover buys back some of those days at the end.
- MulchFor the perennials nearest their cold limit in zone 8a, where an insulated crown is what decides whether they come back.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.
Sources
Where these numbers come from
Hardiness zones are the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. Freeze dates and growing-season lengths are NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, taken per station and cited above by name and NOAA ID.
County boundaries come from the Census ZCTA-to-county relation, which is what places each ZIP code — and which treats parishes, boroughs and census areas as county equivalents. No station is chosen to represent this county: every range above is taken across all of them and the count is stated, because picking one would be a judgement dressed as a measurement.