IMHO I do not think they were talking first frost date, they were talking median frost date. Perhaps you misunderstood how they termed it but more likely the talking heads themselves misspoke or misinterpreted the data - happens all the time. In my region the median fall frost date is October 1. For my county the median fall frost date is around September 28 (specifics unknown due to spotty record keeping). The earliest recorded fall frost occurred in my county on September 09. No data available that I could find regarding the latest first frost date but I would guess it to be around the last week of October (although the first frost may have been even later during the mild fall of 1940 - the year of the Armistice Day blizzard). Around here approximately 98 percent of first frosts have occurred in the four week period starting September 14 so that is the guide I use. I consider first frost a possibility (but unlikely) after the first week in September. I consider first frost to be a definite probability any time after the second week in September, so I start watching weekly outlooks and weather trends closely and I prepare accordingly. If it does not occur until October that is great and I consider those precious extra weeks a bonus, although that bonus delays fall garden cleanup which can be problematic for me. I think that the way you have been thinking regarding fall frost has been correct all along... Nice to hear from you, Minnie. Hope your gardening was successful this year. -Tom

Prairiemoon, I love the appearance of those Purple Viking potatoes! If I were to grow potatoes, that would likely be the variety I would choose, either those or one of the red varieties. Yes I do have a very short growing season here. I think I misread the map though. When I zoomed in closer, the Jun 1-10 (last frost dates) area is slightly south of where I am, but the May 21-31 is definitely overly optimistic. Usually our last frost fall right on or about May 30th. Jun 1st is typically the safe bet for plants to go out. Also -20 F is commonplace here in winter, and -30 happens sometimes. Years ago I used to buy tomato plants, and then I started my own from seed indoors a few times. Then the late blight hit and I gave up growing tomatoes. I tried growing pimento peppers from seed last year and that did not go well, so I've given up on peppers for now. I'm an easily discouraged gardener! Like you, defrost, we have deliberately unmowed areas where a variety of wildflowers grow. I chop a few undesirables like burdocks and poison parsnip, but mostly let nature take its course. I even let stinging nettles grow since I learned these are caterpillar food for black swallowtail butterflies. Several of our unmowed areas are in places where I have seedling trees planted, so eventually these will transform from meadow land to wooded areas. I'm trying to plan ahead to keep my remaining strips of unmowed land far enough away from the growing trees to avoid being shaded. The milkweed and other plants that attract beneficials need strong sunlight to grow. In the here and now however, the striking absence of a variety of insects and other creatures last year is alarming, even with abundant food supplies. I believe I saw only 3 or 4 monarch butterflies all last summer, very few honeybees, and zero barn swallows. No one near me uses pesticides or herbicides, but a lot of the former visitors to my patch of ground are migratory, so I imagine other parts of the country are less eco friendly than Vermont.

I could use the big red flowers. Don't need any more trumpets Thanks Al.

In all of my years of home gardening and professional horticultural practice, I have learned to faithfully stick with the last frost dates published by my state's extension service. That includes during those years with an early spring. I've spent an enormous amount of time growing about 60 flats of annuals and perennials over the winter to risk losing them by planting prematurely. 🌸🌻🌷🌼🌺