Conditional — Some Areas
sorrel (zones 3-7) reaches only part of Alabama (7b-9b): zone 7 are in range, so where you are in the state decides it.
Sorrel in Alabama — the short answer
Sorrel in Alabama: hardy in zones 3–7, part sun, against a state median of ~266 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 3-7
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Alabama zones
- 7b-9b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Feb 24 - Mar 16 – Nov 15 - Nov 28
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 225 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 60 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Alabama spans zones 7b-9b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score sorrel against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Alabama is not one climate
Alabama’s winter-low ladder runs across 67 counties, from zone 7.5 in Jackson County to zone 9 in Mobile County. That is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between sorrel overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 67 counties runs 8–8.5 zones, with a median of 8.5 zones — a 1.5-zone span end to end.
Measured across 67 Alabama counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where Sorrel Stands in Alabama
Sorrel is rated for zones 3–7 — a cold floor USDA puts at -40 to -30°F. No Alabama county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Alabama winters, not about sorrel.
Above the zone 7 ceiling
67 counties
- Jackson County · zone 7b
- Lauderdale County · zone 7b
- Marion County · zone 7b
3 of 67 shown
Too little winter chill rather than too much cold — a low-chill selection is what changes it.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
Sorrel Needs
- USDA Zones: 3-7
- Sun: Part Sun
- Mature size: 2 ft tall
- Picking window: ~120 days of harvest
- Drought tolerance: Medium
Alabama Has
- USDA Zones: 7b-9b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Feb 24 - Mar 16
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 15 - Nov 28
- Annual Rainfall: 50-65 inches
- Common Soils: Red clay, Sandy loam, Alluvial
Plant Zone Range (zones 3-7)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Sorrel in Alabama
The frost window
Across Alabama, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Feb 24 and Mar 16, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 28 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 244-day window you can count on — up to 277 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
When to start the seed
Those dates are when sorrel goes out, not when it starts. It is sown under cover about 4 weeks ahead, so counting back from Alabama's late-side last freeze of Mar 16 is what fixes your sowing date — and a yard that clears frost earlier than the state's late date starts earlier still.
Winter standing
Alabama runs as cold as USDA zone 7, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for sorrel, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether sorrel is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Alabama; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says sorrel survives winter in part of Alabama, not across all of it. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Days to maturity
Sorrel matures in ~60 days (Growable Ground Plant Database). A typical Alabama site has ~266 frost-free days, so plenty of room for a second succession.
Growing degree days
Sorrel needs ~900 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. The state median runs ~5383 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Alabama's typical season clears that easily.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Sorrel likes near-neutral soil (pH 5-7). That's the common-ground band across Alabama's red clay and sandy loam — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 5.5 and 6.8 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Alabama soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Alabama site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Alabama soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant sorrel for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before sorrel goes in. What follows is Alabama’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Alabama — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Alabama — 27,834 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 327 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Alabama carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Alabama
Severity Distribution
across Alabama
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Alabama, two things run higher than the national average across Alabama — CAFO (1,551 sites) and PFAS (290 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Sorrel in Alabama
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Alabama growers also need to think about:
Heavy clay soils in the Piedmont region
High humidity promotes fungal diseases
Fire ants are a persistent garden pest
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Alabama grower, not just sorrel — is covered on the Alabama growing guide.
Timing shifts within Alabama
Sorrel needs about 60 days of frost-free season from planting to harvest. Even Marion County — Alabama’s shortest season at 225 frost-free days — clears that by 165 days, so season length isn’t the constraint anywhere in Alabama. What varies is your own parcel.
Across Alabama’s 67 counties the frost-free season runs from 225 days in Marion County to 297 days in Mobile County — a spread of 72 days, which is why a single statewide planting date misleads. The median Alabama county sees 266 frost-free days, leaving sorrel about 206 days of slack on a typical parcel — room for a second sowing where the season runs long.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Sorrel's 60-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (days to maturity). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Alabama Cooperative Extension
For Alabama-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for sorrel, the canonical source is Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Sorrel native to Alabama?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Sorrel as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Alabama's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Alabama natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Alabama growing guide lists USDA-documented natives for the state.
Native-range data: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution records, accessed 2026-07-01.
Common Questions About Growing Sorrel in Alabama
When can I plant Sorrel in Alabama?
Alabama's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Feb 24 and Mar 16, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 28 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Sorrel, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Alabama and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Sorrel grown in across Alabama?
Alabama spans USDA hardiness zones 7b-9b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Sorrel carries a range of zones 3-7, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Alabama site have?
A typical Alabama site sees ~266 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Sorrel should be matched against that window, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Sorrel native to Alabama?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Sorrel as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Alabama's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Alabama natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Sorrel in Alabama?
Sorrel prefers pH 5-7 and well (dry spells) drainage (Growable Ground Plant Database). That sits in the common-ground band across Alabama soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Sorrel actually grow on my specific land in Alabama?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores sorrel against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Alabama
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores sorrel against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Alabama sorrel averages can't show:
We read public map data around Alabama — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Alabama sorrel average
Explore More
Growing guides for sorrel
Explore Alabama county by county
Alabama carries 67 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for sorrel there:
Where else sorrel grows
Sorrel's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Alabama in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Alabama
Alabama has a growing page for 1,034 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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