USDA hardiness zone
Zone 8b
Rolled up from the 3,385 ZIP codes in our data that are classified zone 8b, covering 3,390 nurseries and garden centers across 599 cities we track in this zone.
Average minimum winter temperature
15°F
Last spring frost range
Jan 31–Jun 3
First fall frost range
Sep 14–Dec 13
Average frost-free growing season
240 days
Average monthly temperature
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45.3° | 48.7° | 55.1° | 62° | 69.8° | 76.7° | 80.1° | 79.6° | 74.1° | 64° | 53.6° | 46.8° |
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 3. 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 8b means an average annual extreme minimum winter temperature of 15°F to 20°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, via phzmapi.org's ZIP-level derivation.
The growing season above averages long enough that most of this directory's 95 tracked crops can run a full cycle, spring or fall, without crowding either frost date. That's the real dividend of a zone this mild: fewer forced choices between crops, more choice of when.
We track nurseries across 16 states in zone 8b, from Alabama and Arizona to Washington, with Virginia Beach, VA carrying the most, followed by Montgomery, AL and Dallas, TX.
Cities we track in zone 8b
- Montgomery, AL (84)
- Dallas, TX (81)
- Virginia Beach, VA (67)
- Salem, OR (65)
- Fort Worth, TX (51)
- Birmingham, AL (47)
- El Paso, TX (43)
- Tyler, TX (42)
- Eugene, OR (42)
- Wilmington, NC (41)
- Hattiesburg, MS (40)
- Auburn, AL (38)
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).