Florala, Alabama, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
On paper, artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in Florala, 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 Florala 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 Florala — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Florala — the short answer
Florala, Alabama: USDA zone 9a, about 287 days between hard freezes, across 7K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 19
- Covington County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Dec 3
- Covington County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~287
- Covington County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 7K acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Covington County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Florala's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Florala's 287-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Florala
Each reading below is measured for Florala itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsFlorala runs about 287 days between hard freezes (read from Covington County, the closest normal to Florala) — 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
Winter hardiness
MeasuredFlorala sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a.
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 Florala is in
Florala sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Florala's own centroid rather than borrowed from Covington County.
What Grows in Florala
Every plant below cleared Florala's own zone 9a and its 287-day season. Each card opens that plant's Alabama profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Florala?
Almost never — the real question is what to plant next. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 22; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 19 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Dec 3 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the calendar nearly circles: cool-season crops take the winter shift, and the next window is always close.
What's on the federal record near Florala
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Florala. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- BASS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.6 mi
- Well CC 5 310221086185201 Covington County AlNitrate · 1.2 mi
- P&C #115 (LIBERTY)Underground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- Well (CC-3)TOWN OF FLORALA Covington County AlNitrate · 1.2 mi
- CURRIE & MCCREARY OIL CO INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
- Well Cc 3 Well 2 Near Florala AlNitrate · 1.2 mi
- D & J EXXONUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- TOM THUMB FOOD STORE #89Underground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- ZIPPY MART AL 607Underground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- CENERGY #3Underground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
- FULLER AMOCOUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
- MIKES TEMKOUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.4 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Florala'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 Florala.
Total Sites
63
within ~10 miles of Florala
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
1 Superfund site (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Florala
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Florala
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Florala, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Florala — CAFO (3 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (39 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Florala
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 Florala average
Your land is one point inside Florala
Everything above resolves to Florala as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 7K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Covington County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid. 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 Florala Average
Florala Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Florala
- ●One soil character for all of Florala
- ●Frost dates read at Florala's scale: Feb 19 to Dec 3
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Florala's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Florala
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Florala, Alabama — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Florala averages can't show:
We read public map data around Florala — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Florala average
How we know this about Florala
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 Covington County’s record, because none resolves here; 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 Florala
When does frost risk typically end in Florala?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Florala typically lands around Feb 19, 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 12.
When is the first frost in Florala?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Florala typically arrives around Dec 3, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 19, so the watching starts about Nov 3 — about 287 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Florala?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Florala sees about 287 frost-free days — roughly Feb 19 through Dec 3, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 12 to Nov 19, about 252 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Florala?
The federal record around Florala is a meaningful one — 63 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (39), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 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 Florala?
From about Nov 3 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 Dec 3 (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 Dec 3. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Florala's scale — its 9a band and its 287-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Florala'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 Florala’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Florala's own scale — the 6,740 acres it covers and 63 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Florala's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 63 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Florala, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Florala's boundary and the 6,740 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~287-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Florala's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Florala has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Covington County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Florala's 6,740 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Covington County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Covington County
- The growing challenges every Alabama grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Alabama
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Covington County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Florala's 6,740 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Florala you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 6,740 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.6 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 Florala-wide figureread your own land →