What USDA hardiness zone is Monroe County, Alabama?

Every ZIP code in Monroe County, Alabama is USDA hardiness zone 8b, from the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

When is the last spring frost in Monroe County, Alabama?

The median last spring freeze runs February 28 – March 22 across the 4 NOAA weather stations serving Monroe County, Alabama, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

Alabama

Planting zones in Monroe County, Alabama

Every ZIP code in this county is USDA zone 8b — so unlike most of the places people look up, there is one right answer here and it holds wherever you are in the county.

USDA zone 8b The same in all 9 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 9 9 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 4 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 1,026 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes Monroe County, Alabama 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 Monroe County is closing

Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives November 8 – November 27 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 3 – January 25 — counted back from a last spring freeze of February 28 – March 22 here.

Every spring date for your ZIP →

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 22 – November 8 as growing season (231 days). Widening to any single station gives February 28 – November 27 (272 days).

That is a 41-day difference inside one county — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.

Your freeze dates

Last spring freeze February 28 – March 22

First fall freeze November 8 – November 27

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 231–270 days depending which station you are nearest, as published by NOAA rather than computed from the dates above. Summer highs average 90.2–92.6 °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 15.6–18.5" across those 3 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. At the middle station that is covered, so watering in Monroe County is for the gaps between storms rather than the whole season. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 92 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

Every ZIP code in Monroe 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
36425	8b	Camden 3 NW, AL	31.5 km
36439	8b	Atmore, AL	27.9 km
36444	8b	Whatley, AL	23.3 km
36445	8b	Atmore, AL	29.2 km
36460	8b	Evergreen Middleton FLD, AL	27.8 km
36470	8b	Whatley, AL	20.3 km
36471	8b	Evergreen Middleton FLD, AL	29.9 km
36480	8b	Atmore, AL	26.0 km
36481	8b	Camden 3 NW, AL	29.3 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 Monroe 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 3 – January 25	8 wk before
🌶️ Peppers	Start indoors	January 3 – January 25	8 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🥬 Collards	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🥬 Kale	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🫛 Peas	Direct sow	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🥬 Spinach	Direct sow	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🍠 Sweet Potato	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🍅 Tomatoes	Start indoors	January 17 – February 8	6 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Start indoors	January 24 – February 15	5 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Start indoors	January 24 – February 15	5 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Start indoors	January 24 – February 15	5 wk before
🥬 Arugula	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🥬 Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🥕 Beets	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🥬 Mustard Greens	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🌶️ Okra	Start indoors	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🌱 Radishes	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🥔 Turnips	Direct sow	January 31 – February 22	4 wk before
🥬 Cabbage	Set out	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥕 Carrots	Direct sow	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Direct sow	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Collards	Set out	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥒 Cucumbers	Start indoors	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🧅 Green Onions	Set out	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Direct sow	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Kale	Set out	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Direct sow	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Kohlrabi	Set out	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🎃 Pumpkins	Start indoors	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🎃 Summer Squash	Start indoors	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🎃 Winter Squash	Start indoors	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥒 Zucchini	Start indoors	February 7 – March 1	3 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Direct sow	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🥬 Bok Choy	Set out	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🥦 Broccoli	Set out	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🌿 Cilantro	Direct sow	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🥬 Leaf Lettuce	Set out	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Direct sow	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🥬 Swiss Chard	Set out	February 14 – March 8	2 wk before
🌿 Dill	Direct sow	February 21 – March 15	1 wk before
🫘 Bush Beans	Direct sow	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Set out	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Direct sow	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🎃 Pumpkins	Set out	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Direct sow	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🎃 Summer Squash	Set out	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🌽 Sweet Corn	Direct sow	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🍅 Tomatoes	Set out	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Direct sow	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🎃 Winter Squash	Set out	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Direct sow	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🥒 Zucchini	Set out	March 7 – March 29	1 wk after
🥒 Cucumbers	Direct sow	March 14 – April 5	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Direct sow	March 14 – April 5	2 wk after
🌶️ Okra	Set out	March 14 – April 5	2 wk after
🌶️ Peppers	Set out	March 14 – April 5	2 wk after
🫘 Southern Peas	Direct sow	March 14 – April 5	2 wk after
🍠 Sweet Potato	Set out	March 14 – April 5	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 8b winter

Of 74 perennial edibles, 54 come through a zone 8b winter — and 11 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, Asparagus, Horseradish, Sunchoke, Walking Onion, Chives.

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 9 to be careful. Median February 28 – March 22 across 4 stations; February 1 is the optimistic end.
First fall freeze: Plan to October 24 to be careful. Median November 8 – November 27 across 4 stations; December 24 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 94 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
Atmore, AL	USC00010402	February 28	November 27	270 days
Camden 3 NW, AL	USC00011301	March 18	November 11	241 days
Evergreen Middleton FLD, AL	USW00053820	March 10	November 17	251 days
Whatley, AL	USC00018867	March 22	November 8	231 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

Monroe County sits in Alabama. That page carries the whole state's zone spread, its metro areas, and every other county in it with a page here.

More of Alabama

Counties with the same zones — 8b

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 92 °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.

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.