Putnam, Alabama, sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b — room for a real mix of vegetables, fruit, and perennials matched to the local frost calendar.
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 Putnam, 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 Putnam 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 Putnam — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Putnam — the short answer
Putnam, Alabama: USDA zone 8b, about 274 days between hard freezes, across 6K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 25
- Marengo County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 26
- Marengo County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~274
- Marengo County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 6K 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 Marengo County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 8b is Putnam's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Putnam's 274-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Putnam
Each reading below is measured for Putnam itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsPutnam runs about 274 days between hard freezes (read from Marengo County, the closest normal to Putnam) — 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
MeasuredPutnam 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 Putnam is in
Putnam sits in the Southeastern Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Putnam's own centroid rather than borrowed from Marengo County.
What Grows in Putnam
Every plant below cleared Putnam'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 Putnam?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. 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. 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 Putnam
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Putnam. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- BROOKS ETHERIDGEUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.5 mi
- HARRISON GROCUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
- Well AA-4 OLIN CHEMICAL CO. Washington Cnty ALNitrate · 6.1 mi
- WALTER MERCANTILEUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.1 mi
- LANE SMITH SERVICE STATIONUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.2 mi
- SWEETWATER AUTO PARTSUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.2 mi
- A W COMPTON & SONUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.2 mi
- SUPER TUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.7 mi
- COUNTRY GENERALUnderground Storage Tanks · 7.9 mi
- Well (J-5)C.A. EZELL Choctaw Cnty ALNitrate · 8.7 mi
- PHILLIPS GROCERYUnderground Storage Tanks · 9.5 mi
- TURNERS CASH STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 9.6 mi
1 more site is on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Putnam'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 Putnam.
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Putnam
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Check your specific parcel in Putnam
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 Putnam average
Your land is one point inside Putnam
Everything above resolves to Putnam as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 6K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Marengo 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 Putnam Average
Putnam Average
- ●USDA Zones 8b, averaged across Putnam
- ●One soil character for all of Putnam
- ●Frost dates read at Putnam's scale: Feb 25 to Nov 26
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Putnam's 8b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Putnam
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Putnam, Alabama — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Putnam averages can't show:
We read public map data around Putnam — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Putnam average
How we know this about Putnam
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 Marengo 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 Putnam
When does frost risk typically end in Putnam?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Putnam 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 Putnam?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Putnam 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 Putnam?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Putnam 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 Putnam?
The federal record around Putnam is light — 15 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (11), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.5 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 Putnam?
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 Putnam's scale — its 8b band and its 274-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Putnam'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 Putnam’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Putnam's own scale — the 6,070 acres it covers and 15 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Putnam's own USDA hardiness band, zones 8bUSDA PHZM 2023
- 15 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Putnam, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.5 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Putnam's boundary and the 6,070 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 Putnam's own centroid, the Southeastern PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Putnam has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Marengo County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Putnam's 6,070 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Marengo County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Marengo 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 Marengo County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Putnam's 6,070 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Putnam you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 6,070 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 1.5 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 Putnam-wide figureread your own land →
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