USDA hardiness zone
Zone 8a
Rolled up from the 3,419 ZIP codes in our data that are classified zone 8a, covering 3,879 nurseries and garden centers across 671 cities we track in this zone.
Average minimum winter temperature
10°F
Last spring frost range
Jan 31–Jun 15
First fall frost range
Sep 21–Dec 8
Average frost-free growing season
222 days
Average monthly temperature
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41° | 44.3° | 51.5° | 60.1° | 68.5° | 76.2° | 79.9° | 78.8° | 72.6° | 61.7° | 51° | 43.6° |
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, averaged across this zone's member ZIPs.
Crops by frost hardiness
What grows here, and when
This zone's own last-frost dates range across Jan 31–Jun 15. Hardy and semi-hardy crops can go in before that date; tender and very-tender crops need to wait until after it. See each crop's own guide for exact windows at a specific location in this zone.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Hardy (49)
- Apple (bare-root fruit tree)
- Apricot (bare-root fruit tree)
- Asparagus
- Bachelor's Button (Cornflower)
- Bare-root rose
- Blackberry
- Blueberry
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Calendula
- Catnip/Catmint
- Cherry (sweet/tart, bare-root fruit tree)
- Chives
- Collards
- Currant
- Deciduous shade tree (generic, e.g. maple/oak, bare-root or B&B)
- Elderberry
- Evergreen shrub (B&B/potted, e.g. arborvitae, boxwood)
- Flowering deciduous shrub (generic, e.g. lilac/forsythia)
- Garden Peas
- Garlic
- Gooseberry
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Larkspur
- Lavender
- Lettuce
- Mint
- Onion (bulb)
- Oregano
- Peach (bare-root fruit tree)
- Pear (bare-root fruit tree)
- Plum (bare-root fruit tree)
- Radish
- Raspberry
- Rhubarb
- Rutabaga
- Sage
- Snapdragon
- Snow Peas
- Spinach
- Strawberry
- Sweet Alyssum
- Sweet Pea
- Table/Bunch Grape
- Tarragon
- Thyme
- Turnip
Semi-hardy (16)
Tender (20)
Zone 8a means an average annual extreme minimum winter temperature of 10°F to 15°F on the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (USDA/ARS with the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University, 1991-2020 records). Every ZIP here carries its zone matched by centroid against the map, not by its polygon boundary, through phzmapi.org's ZIP-level derivation.
The last-frost range shown above reaches deep into winter at this zone's mildest ZIPs, close enough to frost-free most years that a January planting date isn't reckless there the way it would be at this same zone's coldest ZIPs. That's the practical cost of a wide zone: check your own ZIP's own page before trusting either end of the range.
We track nurseries across 18 states in zone 8a, from Alabama to Washington, with Memphis, TN carrying the most, followed by Huntsville, AL and Chesapeake, VA.
Cities we track in zone 8a
- Memphis, TN (106)
- Huntsville, AL (104)
- Atlanta, GA (59)
- Birmingham, AL (59)
- Chesapeake, VA (52)
- Chattanooga, TN (50)
- Cullman, AL (46)
- Raleigh, NC (44)
- Greensboro, NC (42)
- Baltimore, MD (41)
- Charlotte, NC (40)
- Madison, AL (39)
Nearby zones
All zones
USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map (zone boundaries, via the phzmapi.org ZIP-level derivation) and NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals (frost dates, growing season, monthly temperatures).