Does anyone know the average date for the last frost for 8a (I'm in south Arlington)? I've looked a couple of places online and the dates vary quite a bit! TIA Sarah
Average dates for last frost? Zone 8a
Well,LOL I have found March 17 and April 17 over the years. Jeez some years are pushing May. I lived right down the road from you on Trail Lake and 820 for years and the dates were always crazy! Have been 18 miles South of Weatherford for the last 10 years and I have found I am in this little dip that is Zone 7? Ugh! Makes it hard to have those wonderful spend all your money on plants weekend and watch them melt in a late freeze. If you are not in a wide open area I think the first week of April should be safe. Pick up some frost clothes just in case. I have a greenhouse and I find myself bringing things out only to have to dolly back in on a freak cold night. I have about 150 or more tropicals that I have kept for years and a Hubby that loves me enough to drag them in and out for me. We are getting a little old for that part but I find it worth it until our backs give out for good!
You might try contacting you local County extension agency. They would be your best bet for getting a more precise date for you exact area. I know that the date of my last is not the same as others in my zone. Only after gardening here for 15+ years did I finally figure it out.
Lisa
I always like to be safe rather than sorry, I hate to have my plants killed by frost, so I think that for tomatoes peppers and the like, the middle of April should be safe.
As far as I can tell there is no set or precise schedule for Texas weather, all we can do is use our best guess.
Josephine.
Sarah,
Here's a good link with this information. Look for your county for the average frost date. Remember these are averages. Some years the last date will be sooner or later.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homeguide/frostspring.html
Thank all of you for your answers. I am in a rather sheltered area, but I think I'll be conservative this year. And I'll check out the website that you posted, bettydee. Sarah
I lived in east Fort Worth for 15 years and remember one year's last frost was on March 15 ( the average date ), the next year it was on Feb. 15 and the next year April 15, so you decide.
Then there is always the Farmers Almanac. http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/long-range-weather-forecast
Ken, that averages out to March 15. lol
I know but that is still a two month differance. The year that the last frost was April 15, my brother put out tomatoes 4 times. I always plant tomatoes early and keep a 5 gal. bucket to cover them, close at hand.
The first year I had a house (1995), I will always remember planting my first flower bed while the Academy Awards were going on. My husband was out of town, so I took a little rabbit ears TV out on the back porch and started opening bags of soil when the Barbara Walters special came on, and it wasn't until the Oscars ended (I think it was after midnight that year!) that I had all my little 4" and 1 gallon plants in the ground, mulched and watered. Ever since then I've thought of Oscar night as the signal to start gardening. The only problem is I think they've started having the Oscars earlier now. So I still start gardening on Oscar weekend, but I start with perennials that can take a frost, cutting back whatever still needs it, getting compost and mulch down, etc.. I think the average last frost here in Austin is March 1.
Onions on New Years day and taters on Valentines day. Tenders on DW birthday March 13. We were married on Pearl Harber day. Keep it simple.