Zone 8a Planting Calendar: What to Plant Each Month
The coldest night of the winter averages 10°F to 15°F in zone 8a. Where it is, when its frosts come, and what to do in the garden each month, from extension service guidance.
Where zone 8a is
Zone 8a covers 3,429 ZIP codes in 23 states and Washington, DC: North Carolina (640), Georgia (381), Arkansas (372), Texas (333), Alabama (332), South Carolina (205), Virginia (195), Mississippi (151) and 15 more.
Across its 458 NOAA stations the last spring frost comes around Mar 30 and the first fall frost around Nov 6; half the stations fall between Mar 25 and Apr 3 in spring and Nov 2 and Nov 9 in fall.
Cities and towns in zone 8a
- Charlotte, NC 28202
- Atlanta, GA 30303
- Birmingham, AL 35203
- Little Rock, AR 72201
- Baltimore, MD 21202
- Raleigh, NC 27601
- Memphis, TN 38103
- Atlantic City, NJ 08401
- Fort Smith, AR 72901
- Greenville, SC 29601
- Huntsville, AL 35801
- Chattanooga, TN 37402
Tap a town for its own frost dates and this month’s jobs; a hill or a valley a few miles off can be half a zone either side.
Zone 8a planting calendar
What to start, sow, plant, divide, prune, mulch and protect in zone 8a, month by month. Every job names the extension service page it rests on; open “Where this comes from” under a job to read their words.
Timed from the median frost dates of the 458 NOAA stations in zone 8a: last spring frost Mar 30, first fall frost Nov 6. Your own ZIP’s frost dates move every window, so the ZIP tool times them for you.
Pick a month above to see every job in it.
The year at a glance
- Start vegetable seeds indoorsDec to Mar
- Sow vegetables in the gardenMar to Apr
- Sow the fall vegetable gardenJul to Sep
- Set out transplantsMar to Apr
- Plant trees and shrubsSep 25 to Apr 13
- Plant garlicOct 23 to Nov 27
- Plant pre-chilled tulip bulbsNov 20 to Dec 31
- Divide fall-blooming perennialsMar 9 to Apr 20
- Divide spring and summer-blooming perennialsSep 25 to Nov 6
- Prune trees and summer-flowering shrubs while dormantFeb 16 to Mar 30
- Prune spring-flowering shrubs after they bloomMar 16 to May 11
- Prune out cold damageMar 30 to May 11
- Cover tender plants on a freezing nightOct 30 to Mar 30
- Cut back perennials after a hard freezeNov 13 to Dec 11
What grows in zone 8a
Perennials, shrubs, trees and fruit that NC State Extension rates as hardy in zone 8a, each linked to its plant page. A plant rated for a range of zones suits every half zone in it, so “zones 4 to 8” covers 4a through 8b.
Perennials 15
- Purple coneflowerzones 3a to 8b
- Orange coneflower (black-eyed Susan)zones 3a to 9b
- Daylilyzones 3a to 9b
- Hostazones 3a to 9b
- Catmintzones 5a to 9b
- Woodland sagezones 4a to 8b
- Coral bells (American alumroot)zones 4a to 9b
- Butterfly weedzones 3a to 9b
- Blue false indigozones 3a to 9b
- Yarrowzones 3a to 9b
- Garden phloxzones 4a to 8b
- English lavenderzones 5a to 9b
- Siberian iriszones 3a to 8b
- Showy stonecrop (sedum)zones 4a to 9b
- Rose mallowzones 4a to 9b
Shrubs 14
- Smooth hydrangeazones 3a to 9b
- Bigleaf hydrangeazones 6a to 11b
- Forsythiazones 5a to 8b
- Japanese spireazones 3a to 8b
- Arrowwood viburnumzones 2a to 8b
- Winterberry hollyzones 3a to 9b
- Catawba rhododendronzones 4a to 8b
- Common boxwoodzones 5a to 8b
- Japanese camelliazones 7a to 9b
- Gardeniazones 7b to 11b
- Chinese fringe flower (loropetalum)zones 7b to 9b
- Oleanderzones 8a to 10b
- Rose of Sharonzones 5a to 9b
- Black chokeberryzones 3a to 8b
Trees 8
- Crape myrtlezones 6a to 9b
- Red maplezones 2a to 9b
- Eastern redbudzones 4a to 9b
- Flowering dogwoodzones 5a to 9b
- Southern magnoliazones 6a to 10b
- Live oakzones 8a to 10b
- Cabbage palmettozones 7b to 11b
- Serviceberryzones 3a to 8a
Fruit 15
- Applezones 4a to 9b
- Peachzones 5a to 9b
- Pearzones 4a to 8b
- Sweet cherryzones 3a to 8b
- Highbush blueberryzones 3a to 8b
- Red raspberryzones 4a to 8b
- Garden strawberryzones 5a to 9b
- Muscadine grapezones 5a to 9b
- Figzones 7a to 10b
- American persimmonzones 4a to 9b
- Pawpawzones 5a to 9b
- Loquatzones 8a to 11b
- Pomegranatezones 8a to 10b
- Olivezones 8a to 10b
- Pineapple guava (feijoa)zones 8a to 10b
Bulbs 7
Ratings from the NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, read Oct 9, 2026. The zone covers winter cold only; heat, rain and soil decide the rest.
The zones next to 8a
Each half zone is five degrees. Zone 7b is five degrees colder at 5°F to 10°F. Zone 8b is five degrees warmer at 15°F to 20°F.
Zone 8a questions
Your own dates, by ZIP
Sources. USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP code tables (2023 and 2012), PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University; USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; USDA Unveils Updated Plant Hardiness Zone Map (USDA Agricultural Research Service, November 15, 2023); NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual/seasonal, by station (v1.0.1); NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Zone frost dates are the medians of the NOAA 1991 to 2020 station normals inside the zone.
The calendar’s extension sources:
- UNH Cooperative Extension, Growing Vegetables: When to Plant your Vegetable Garden, read Sep 21, 2026.
- University of Minnesota Extension, Planting vegetables in midsummer for a fall harvest, read Oct 9, 2026.
- University of Illinois Extension, Planting a fall vegetable garden (Good Growing), read Oct 9, 2026.
- University of Minnesota Extension, Dividing perennials, read Oct 9, 2026.
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, How should I prepare my perennial beds for winter?, read Oct 9, 2026.
- University of Minnesota Extension, Pruning trees and shrubs, read Oct 9, 2026.
- Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension, Pruning Flowering Shrubs (FS1221), read Oct 9, 2026.
- University of Maryland Extension, Planting a Tree or Shrub, read Oct 9, 2026.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Preparing Landscape Plants for Winter, read Oct 9, 2026.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Storing Tender Bulbs for Winter, read Oct 9, 2026.
- Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, All About Tulips, read Oct 9, 2026.
- UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Tulips, read Oct 9, 2026.
- UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Preparing the Landscape for Cold Weather, read Oct 9, 2026.
- UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Treating Cold-Damaged Plants, read Oct 9, 2026.