Hurtsboro, 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.
A short list that earns its place here — cabbage, fig, california poppy, and collard greens — with any one site's soil, sun, and drainage making the final cut.
Even in Hurtsboro, 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 Hurtsboro 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 Hurtsboro — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Hurtsboro — the short answer
Hurtsboro, Alabama: USDA zone 8b, about 269 days between hard freezes, across 661 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Mar 2
- Russell County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 26
- Russell County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~269
- Russell County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 661 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 Russell County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Hurtsboro's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Hurtsboro's 269-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Hurtsboro
Each reading below is measured for Hurtsboro itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsHurtsboro runs about 269 days between hard freezes (read from Russell County, the closest normal to Hurtsboro) — 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
MeasuredHurtsboro 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 Hurtsboro is in
Hurtsboro sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Hurtsboro's own centroid rather than borrowed from Russell County.
What Grows in Hurtsboro
Every plant below cleared Hurtsboro's own zone 8b and its 269-day season. Each card opens that plant's Alabama profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Hurtsboro?
Too late for some crops, right on time for others — a growing season is a sequence, not a deadline. Cool-season crops can go in from around Feb 2; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Mar 2 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 26 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. In a climate this gentle, “too late” hardly applies — the question becomes which crops prefer the cooler months ahead.
What's on the federal record near Hurtsboro
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Hurtsboro. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- B & S GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 950 ft
- DEEP SOUTH SUPPLYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1000 ft
- HURTSBORO MAIN - 12731Underground Storage Tanks · 1300 ft
- UNION CAMP CORP HURTSBOROUnderground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
- HURTSBORO COUNTY HWY 37 RRS - 16797Underground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
- THOMAS M CARROLLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1400 ft
- WILLIAMS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1900 ft
- ONE STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
- RUSSELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLUnderground Storage Tanks · 2000 ft
- A B CARROLL LUMBER CO INCToxics Release Inventory · 2000 ft
- Well O 2 HURTSBORO LAYNE1 321444085244401Nitrate · 2200 ft
- A B CARROLL LUMBER CO INCUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Hurtsboro'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 Hurtsboro.
Total Sites
32
within ~10 miles of Hurtsboro
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
3 Toxics Release Inventory facilities
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Hurtsboro
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Hurtsboro
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Hurtsboro, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Hurtsboro — Toxics Release Inventory (3 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (21 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Hurtsboro
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 Hurtsboro average
Your land is one point inside Hurtsboro
Everything above resolves to Hurtsboro as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 661 acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Russell 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 Hurtsboro Average
Hurtsboro Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Hurtsboro
- ●One soil character for all of Hurtsboro
- ●Frost dates read at Hurtsboro's scale: Mar 2 to Nov 26
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Hurtsboro's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Hurtsboro
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Hurtsboro, Alabama — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Hurtsboro averages can't show:
We read public map data around Hurtsboro — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Hurtsboro average
How we know this about Hurtsboro
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 Russell 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 Hurtsboro
When does frost risk typically end in Hurtsboro?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Hurtsboro typically lands around Mar 2, 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 23.
When is the first frost in Hurtsboro?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Hurtsboro typically arrives around Nov 26, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 12, so the watching starts about Oct 27 — about 269 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Hurtsboro?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Hurtsboro sees about 269 frost-free days — roughly Mar 2 through Nov 26, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 23 to Nov 12, about 234 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Hurtsboro?
The federal record around Hurtsboro is light — 32 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (21), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Hurtsboro?
From about Oct 27 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 26 (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 26. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Hurtsboro's scale — its 8b band and its 269-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Hurtsboro'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 Hurtsboro’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Hurtsboro's own scale — the 661 acres it covers and 32 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Hurtsboro's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 32 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Hurtsboro, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Hurtsboro's boundary and the 661 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 8b and a ~269-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Hurtsboro's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Hurtsboro has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Russell County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Hurtsboro's 661 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Russell County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Russell 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 Russell County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Hurtsboro's 661 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Hurtsboro you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 661 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.2 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 Hurtsboro-wide figureread your own land →
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