Malvern, Alabama, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.
The conditions favor artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Malvern, 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 Malvern 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 Malvern — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Malvern — the short answer
Malvern, Alabama: USDA zone 9a, about 274 days between hard freezes, across 9K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 25
- Geneva County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 26
- Geneva County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~274
- Geneva County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 9K 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 Geneva County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Malvern's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Malvern's 274-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Malvern
Each reading below is measured for Malvern itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsMalvern runs about 274 days between hard freezes (read from Geneva County, the closest normal to Malvern) — 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
MeasuredMalvern 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 Malvern is in
Malvern sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Malvern's own centroid rather than borrowed from Geneva County.
What Grows in Malvern
Every plant below cleared Malvern's own zone 9a and its 274-day season. Each card opens that plant's Alabama profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Malvern?
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 28; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 25 (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. And with a calendar this mild, the honest answer is that planting barely stops — winter opens seasons colder regions never see.
What's on the federal record near Malvern
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Malvern. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- HICKMANS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
- MALVERN DELI MART (CLEMENTINE'S)Underground Storage Tanks · 2200 ft
- MAGIC OIL COUnderground Storage Tanks · 0.9 mi
- BUTLER AUTOMOTIVEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.9 mi
- MILLERS GROCER AKA HALLS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 2.6 mi
- TAYLOR GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.4 mi
- BRANTON RD MERCURY SPILLSuperfund · 3.5 mi
- AMANDA'S PIT STOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- WALMART EXPRESS #2165Underground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- ROBERTS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- Well Q 12 310752085271301 Houston Cnty ALNitrate · 4.2 mi
- T&T GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.5 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Malvern'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 Malvern.
Total Sites
303
within ~10 miles of Malvern
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Malvern
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Malvern
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Malvern, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Malvern — CAFO (7 sites) and PFAS (4 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around 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.
Check your specific parcel in Malvern
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 Malvern average
Your land is one point inside Malvern
Everything above resolves to Malvern as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 9K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Geneva 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 Malvern Average
Malvern Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Malvern
- ●One soil character for all of Malvern
- ●Frost dates read at Malvern's scale: Feb 25 to Nov 26
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Malvern's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Malvern
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Malvern, Alabama — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Malvern averages can't show:
We read public map data around Malvern — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Malvern average
How we know this about Malvern
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 Geneva 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 Malvern
When does frost risk typically end in Malvern?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Malvern typically lands around Feb 25, 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 18.
When is the first frost in Malvern?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Malvern 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 274 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Malvern?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Malvern sees about 274 frost-free days — roughly Feb 25 through Nov 26, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 18 to Nov 12, about 239 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Malvern?
The federal record around Malvern is a meaningful one — 303 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (209), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Malvern?
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 Malvern's scale — its 9a band and its 274-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Malvern'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 Malvern’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Malvern's own scale — the 9,114 acres it covers and 303 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Malvern's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 303 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Malvern, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Malvern's boundary and the 9,114 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~274-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at Malvern's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Malvern has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Geneva County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Malvern's 9,114 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Geneva County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Geneva 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 Geneva County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Malvern's 9,114 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Malvern you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 9,114 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Malvern-wide figureread your own land →
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