Hobson, Alabama, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
The conditions favor cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Hobson, 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 Hobson 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 Hobson — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Hobson — the short answer
Hobson, Alabama: USDA zone 8b, about 274 days between hard freezes, across 2K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 26
- Washington County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 27
- Washington County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~274
- Washington County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 2K 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 Washington County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Hobson's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Hobson's 274-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Hobson
Each reading below is measured for Hobson itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsHobson runs about 274 days between hard freezes (read from Washington County, the closest normal to Hobson) — 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
MeasuredHobson sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b.
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 Hobson is in
Hobson sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Hobson's own centroid rather than borrowed from Washington County.
What Grows in Hobson
Every plant below cleared Hobson's own zone 8b and its 274-day season. Each card opens that plant's Alabama profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Hobson?
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 29; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 26 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 27 — 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 Hobson
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Hobson. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- SHORTYS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- WASHINGTON COUNTY DISTRICT 1Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- WASHINGTON COUNTY DISTRICT 3Underground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- STATE OF ALABAMA FORESTRY COMMISSIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- FRUITDALE R R TOWERUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- HOBSON CORNER MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- C & B READY MIXUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- ANTHONY JONES HOBSON CORIVER MARKETUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.8 mi
- WASHINGTON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLBrownfields · 3.2 mi
- WASHINGTON COUNTY DISTRICT 2Underground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- CLARKE WASHINGTON ELECTRICUnderground Storage Tanks · 5.1 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Hobson'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 Hobson.
Total Sites
40
within ~10 miles of Hobson
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
1 Toxics Release Inventory facility
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Hobson
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Hobson
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Hobson, Underground Storage Tanks runs higher than the national average — 29 sites within ~10 miles of Hobson. Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Hobson
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 Hobson average
Your land is one point inside Hobson
Everything above resolves to Hobson as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 2K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Washington 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 Hobson Average
Hobson Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Hobson
- ●One soil character for all of Hobson
- ●Frost dates read at Hobson's scale: Feb 26 to Nov 27
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Hobson's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Hobson
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Hobson, Alabama — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Hobson averages can't show:
We read public map data around Hobson — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Hobson average
How we know this about Hobson
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 Washington 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 Hobson
When does frost risk typically end in Hobson?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Hobson typically lands around Feb 26, 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 19.
When is the first frost in Hobson?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Hobson typically arrives around Nov 27, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 13, so the watching starts about Oct 28 — about 274 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Hobson?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Hobson sees about 274 frost-free days — roughly Feb 26 through Nov 27, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 19 to Nov 13, about 239 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Hobson?
The federal record around Hobson is light — 40 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (29), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 miles out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Hobson?
From about Oct 28 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 Nov 27 (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 Nov 27. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Hobson's scale — its 8b band and its 274-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Hobson'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 Hobson’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Hobson's own scale — the 1,884 acres it covers and 40 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Hobson's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 40 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Hobson, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Hobson's boundary and the 1,884 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~274-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Hobson's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Hobson has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Washington County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Hobson's 1,884 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Washington County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Washington 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 Washington County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Hobson's 1,884 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Hobson you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 1,884 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.8 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 Hobson-wide figureread your own land →
More in Alabama
Wider growing context
What grows across AlabamaHobson sits outside our named growing regions, so Alabama as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides