Escambia County, in Alabama, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
These conditions suit cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — a starting list any specific site will trim or extend with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Escambia County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Escambia County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. 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 Escambia County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Escambia County — the short answer
Escambia County, Alabama: USDA zone 8b, about 280 days between hard freezes, across 605K acres.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 22
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 29
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~280
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 605K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 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
Zone 8b is Escambia County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Escambia County's 280-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Heat and winter chill in Escambia County
Across a year, Escambia County accumulates about 5,802 growing degree days above 50°F, about 518 more than the middle Alabama county — ahead of 58 of Alabama’s 67 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Winter banks about 842 hours below 45°F, 406 fewer than the Alabama middle of 1,248. Chill is what tells a fruit tree its dormancy is over, and it is set by climate rather than by anything you can build.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Escambia County
Across Escambia County, the ground is predominantly Ultisols, where Benndale, Orangeburg, and Troup are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a fine sandy loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 5.0–5.3, strongly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group B soils.
Soil order
Ultisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
38%
Hydric soils
18%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Escambia County
The USDA soil survey maps 61% of Escambia County as well drained — but another 39% drains differently: 18% poorly drained, 12% somewhat excessively drained.
Benndale is the most extensive named soil at 17% of mapped acres, then Orangeburg (16%) and Troup (12%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Escambia County
Each reading below is measured for Escambia County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Escambia County are well drained, in hydrologic group B — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Escambia County runs about pH 5.0–5.3, on the acidic side.
Blueberries, potatoes, and rhododendrons thrive in it, but most vegetables start locking out nutrients below about pH 6.0 and grow pale and stunted no matter how much you feed them.
A measured lime application raises pH for the crops that need it — but test first, because the right rate depends on your own soil, not the county average.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Wet ground
MeasuredAbout 18% of Escambia County is mapped as hydric — wetland — soil.
If your lot falls in one of those pockets, a standard in-ground bed will fight waterlogging all season, and roots that need air will struggle.
Check how your own ground drains before you dig; raised beds or moisture-loving plantings turn a wet corner from a problem into a niche.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredEscambia County runs about 280 days between hard freezes — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
The kind of country Escambia County is in
Escambia County sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. One consistent ecological setting across the whole county.
What Grows in Escambia County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Escambia County's own USDA zone 8b and its own 280-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Alabama profile.
Is it too late to plant in Escambia County?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 25; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 22 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.
What gets applied to farmland in Escambia County
USGS estimates 100,598 lb of Glyphosate on Escambia County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of Metolachlor & Metolachlor-s (15,907 lb) and Acephate (13,014 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Escambia County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Escambia County — 293 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Escambia County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Escambia County
Closest first, across Escambia County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- BREWTON CREW HEADQUARTERSUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.1 mi
- MICHEAL DOSSBrownfields · 2.2 mi
- SOUTHERN LONGLEAF PINE LLCUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.5 mi
- PHILLIPS TUNE UPBrownfields · 4.0 mi
- FUSION FABRICATIONBrownfields · 4.0 mi
- BREWTON COMPRESSOR STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- DELTA #2146Underground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- BERTIE B ALFORDUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- DICK-N-TINASUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- ALABAMA CHIPS, INC.Toxics Release Inventory · 4.1 mi
- Well McCall Well 1 Escambia Cnty ALNitrate · 4.2 mi
- GP BREWTON CAUSTIC SODASuperfund · 4.3 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Escambia County'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 Escambia County.
Total Sites
293
across Escambia County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Escambia County
Severity Distribution
across Escambia County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Escambia County, two things run higher than the national average across Escambia County — PFAS (6 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (188 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
PFAS: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are called "forever chemicals" because they do not biodegrade.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Test irrigation water source — this is the primary pathway for PFAS to reach garden crops.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Escambia County
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 Escambia County average
Your land is one point inside Escambia County
Everything above resolves to Escambia County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 605K 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 county 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 county average.
Your Lot vs the Escambia County Average
Escambia County Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Escambia County
- ●One soil character for all of Escambia County
- ●Frost dates read at Escambia County's scale: Feb 22 to Nov 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Escambia County's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Escambia County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Escambia County, Alabama — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Escambia County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Escambia County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Escambia County average
How we know this about Escambia County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Escambia County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Escambia County
When does frost risk typically end in Escambia County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Escambia County typically lands around Feb 22, 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 Mar 15.
How long is the growing season in Escambia County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Escambia County sees about 280 frost-free days — roughly Feb 22 through Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 15 to Nov 15, about 245 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Escambia County?
The federal record around Escambia County is a meaningful one — 293 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (188), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 2.1 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.
Everything above is measured at Escambia County's scale — its 8b band and its 280-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Escambia County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Alabama's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Escambia County’s own scale
8 of the readings below were taken at Escambia County's own scale — its own ~280-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 293 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Escambia County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- Escambia County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~280-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Escambia CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 293 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 2.1 miles outFederal environmental registers
- Escambia County's boundary and the 605,061 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~280-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Escambia County sitting wholly inside the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Escambia County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Alabama grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Alabama
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Escambia County — the ~280 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Escambia County's 605,061 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 293 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Escambia Countyread your own land →