ZONE GARDENING MAP
Posted on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 11:17 am
when is the “last threat of frost” for planting a garden?
I live in northern new england, if someone could give a link to a map that shows the planting dates for the “zones” that would be awesome!
I’m not certain but I don’t think there is such a thing. The weather is so variable and there are so many macro-climates I’m pretty sure it’s not possible to state an exact date when the last threat of frost is guaranteed. At best you would have to talk to some locals in your immediate area and see what the rules-of-thumb are.
The old timers around my area watch the snow on the mountains north of us. They claim the odds of a frost are very low after the snow has melted off the mountain top. I’ve watched it for 21 years and it is amazingly accurate.
You might find if you ask around your community there is a local method used as well.
Good luck.
Follow-up comments…..
I note that others are referencing charts from almanacs and gardening websites. These are OK if you want a feel-good but often inaccurate date. The last frost date varies widely from year to year and can vary by weeks just by short distances in location.
For example, if you live by a river or mouth of a canyon or draw or if you live in an urban area or if your garden area is protected by neighboring trees. There are so many factors that affect the last frost that no table of dates in a book or website is capable of giving a very accurate date.
The last frost in my area has varied 7 weeks over the past 21 years. If I simply believed the date in the books I’d be replanting a frost-bitten garden about every 2-3 years.
What I was saying is, if you really want an accurate date for your area, your best bet is to talk around with the long-time local gardeners. They will likely have a much better answer than a book of dates that has almost no possibility of addressing the millions of macro-climate in the country. It’s a bit naive to believe a table of dates in a book is going to be accurate.
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