When is Your Last Frost Date

14 years ago

Here in Oklahoma, our last frost date is April 15th, but Mother Nature doesn't always play fair. Some years spring comes very early in March and some years it can be in May before we have our last frost, freeze or even snowfall. Many times, I have pinned plastic trash bags around the tomato cages and made paper hats held down with rocks for nights when there is a frost or freeze in the forecast. Sometimes it looks like a junk yard with all the buckets and blankets and pots over everything tender. Can't cover the fruit trees though and that really makes me sick to lose them.

I live right on the zone dividing line of 6b and 7a. On the average, it is usually safe to plant after April 15th for zone 6b, but April 1st is the last frost date in zone 7a, so it goes either way for where I live here on this south facing ridge.

When I plant a big garden with lots of tomatoes, it is impossible for me to cover them all, and this year I have over a 100 tomato plants, alone.

So, I will plant out the biggest ones in gallon pots next week and see how the weather goes. They are already hardened off.

How about you? When is your last frost date?

~Annie

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Comments (22)

natal
14 years ago
Annie, I asked the same question on Oakley's cosmos thread.

Here in zone 8b it's March 15, but I too have been caught scrambling with a late March predicted freeze. Not fun!
Annie
Original Author
14 years ago
Natal,

I know you asked that question in Oakley's Cosmos thread, but I didn't want to hiJack her thread, so started this one.
We can yak about it all we want to this way. :)

I lived in Shreveport for ten years. My children were born there and it was my home sweet home. I loved Louisiana. The people were great. I miss my figs trees, gardenias, azaleas and the pines. I miss going fishing for Catfish and Brim in the spring and all the hoopla for the holidays. Lots of other things too.

~Annie
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I'm in Southern PA and I don't plant my tomatoes out until the first week in May. Our last frost is around this time, but with the soil being still so cool, the tomato plants will just sit there not growing until the soil warms up. Your frost date is probably earlier than ours, but I would still wait a couple of weeks. You could check with neighbors who garden or call your local Extension Office to get more info.
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First and last frost dates can be very localized; a few miles, or less, and many other factors can make a difference. We had a cold winter and a cool, late spring this year. That being said, April 15 is a pretty close date to work with. However air temperature isn't the only factor to consider. Soil temperature is important, too, for seed germination as well as root and plant growth. For warm-weather crops like tomatoes and peppers, might as well wait until the soil warms to at least 55-60 degrees F, since if the soil is too cool the plants will just sit and sulk until it warms up enough for them to get some root activity going. Somewhere I read that the old way of determining when the soil was warm enough for planting was for the farmer to drop his drawers and sit down. Probably not a good idea for most of us. Here is a link that might be useful: Interactive NJ Last Frost Date Map
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I live in southern Milwaukee county and they say to plant tomatoes and tender plants, like coleus Memorial Day weekend. I have planted before that though and no problems. But I do remember we had snow on Mother's Day about 15 yrs ago (or somewhere around there). I'll never forget that. My in-laws had rented a cottage on Fox Lake and the snow lasted a couple of days. They did hardly any fishing that week and because of the temp change the fishing was horrible. But this year I think we're pretty safe from that. Though I'm not putting tomatoes and some annuals in for another 2 wks. Some annuals are really touchy when temps go below 45. I remember having my front room full of plants in early-mid May because the nights were too cold for them. It did look nice though! LOL! Kat
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mindysuewho
14 years ago
April 15 but I would not plant an annual until Mother's Day. I did it once and they just sat stunted for about a month, too cold for them.
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
14 years ago
30 years ago our last frost date was around the end of March, now it could be sometime in April or even May very unpredictable. We have lots of fresh snow on all the mountains around us so we're still having very low temps at night.
The rule of thumb around here is May 24th weekend is the start of planting out things like tomatoes, peppers and cucs. I'll be planting out my tomatoes in a couple of weeks but they will have hot caps on them until the night temps are a little warmer. Cherokee Purple and Box Car Willie are a couple of the new to me varieties of tomatoes I'm trying this year alone with a few others.
I'm sprouting some of my bean seed in the greenhouse for an early start for one of the raised beds and I've got Chinese Red Noodle and Pretzel beans growing in the greenhouse, these need a warm summer to produce, we may or may not have one so thought I'd grow them in the greenhouse and see if this will work.

Annette
scully931
14 years ago
April 20 here in Pittsburgh. That's for the last hard frost. Last light frost is two weeks later.

Of course, they tell me this every year on the news. And every year I plant early anyway then, inevitably, I am outside at six in the morning with the hose getting the frost off my plants. When will I learn?
organic_kitten
14 years ago
Supposedly, there hasn't been a frost in this area after April 21st. I'm not sure I trust that since weather has been a little crazy this year.

I'm not planting the seedlings, tomatoes etc...until a little later than that.
kay
hurlee
14 years ago
May 15th. I might plant earlier this year with all this fantastic weather....
ghoghunter
14 years ago
Ours here is usually between April 15th and May 15th. You can never tell which date will be the real deal! For really tender stuff I would go with the Mother's Day date!
Joann
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
14 years ago
April 20th is the official date here but we frequently get frosts in early May so the May 24th weekend is still considered the 'safe' date here for tender stuff.
Oakley
14 years ago
I heard it was around April 15th. I'm going to wait a week or so to plant some of my flowers because they'll just sit there and pout in the cool dirt. I have them on my front porch for now and am buying ones that could possibly sell out before they're ready to go in the ground.

The heavy frost we had last week didn't hurt any of my roses, hydrangea or perennials coming up.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
14 years ago
Here in zone 7 May 1st is supposed to be the safe date to plant (April 30 is supposedly the last frost date, although that can come as much as a month earlier). I am hoping that we are safe this year since I am putting in some newly-arrived hosta today and the other perennials are coming up. I won't plant containers until the end of April, though. It is so hard to be patient when the weather is like this, isn't it?!

Cynthia
lavender_lass
14 years ago
Here in zone 4, it's usually the end of May/first of June. I know this, but I couldn't resist getting some beautfiul stock yesterday with a wonderful fragrance...so I'm going to be taking it into the shed at night, hoping it doesn't freeze....for the next six weeks or so. At least the bumblebees are very happy with me right now :)
hosenemesis
14 years ago
The day after I brag about my garden.
Renee
girlgroupgirl
14 years ago
Ours is typically end of March however, they put it off two weeks to April 10th this year, just in case. So far, that was not necessary however, many nights still just in the low 40's. It makes me happy.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
14 years ago
Ain't that the truth, Renee!
luckygal
14 years ago
I think it's officially something like the 7th of June here altho we always pretend after the 24th of May we are fairly safe. Unless it snows! LOL We can get frost at any time altho I think the climate is warming and we haven't had summer frosts in the 20+ years I've been gardening here. Always worth taking a chance.
token28001
14 years ago
Renee - LOL! Amen to that.

As of April 11, we have a 50% chance of frost. By April 26, that drops to 10%. Last year, we had a cool night around May 17, but no frost. This year, we haven't had a frost since March 9. We've been near freezing several times, but no frost.

In the fall, we usually get a late October or early November frost. Had a very light one this year in November. The killing frost came on December 5.

You can find the numbers for your zone here. NCDC. Choose your state, then find your town on the pdf file that pops up.
gldno1
14 years ago
Even though we live in southwest Missouri, our planting dates are listed as "northern" Missouri. I guess because of the Ozark Mountain range.

I never plant warm season things out before May 10 to 15th and sweet potatoes around May 20th or later. It's just a crap shoot doing it before!

glenda
farmerjude
14 years ago
You could also check my Frost Date Finder based on the NCDC's Freeze/Frost data...

Here is a link that might be useful: Frost Date Finder
girlgroupgirl
14 years ago
We're about right on line with Token right now. However, I've found some info on places like weatherunderground that do an annual prediction. This year they said April 10th was the last frost date - I guess because of the cold winter. We haven't had frost since early March, and went straight into very warm temps but still very cool nights into the low 40's. It's been an odd year so far!
wren_garden
14 years ago
May 20th here in Niagara Falls, NY. For now, some of my Tulips just opened this week. Hosta are just poking their heads up by 1-2 inches. Roses are leafed out by half. Trees are heavy with buds and a few are leafing out. I cut the grass for the first time this year this morning. It's a sunny day and am truly enjoying it.
midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
14 years ago
Our last average frost date is April 29th, with the range being from April 22nd to June 9th. At this time of year, I start watching the overnight temps. Right now we are having great days, hovering in the mid 50's to 60's, but at night it goes down close freezing almost every night. Once the overnights warm-up, I feel more comfortable about planting out!! But, those daytime temps have me itching!! lol. My pear trees are going to have blossoms on them for the 1st time!!!! Can't wait.

Nancy.

When is Your Last Frost Date

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natal

Annie
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Annie
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