Gardner, MA 01366 Frost Dates
01366, near Gardner, MA: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 05/04, about 249 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/08, roughly 157 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gardner in Zone 6a (-10 to -5°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
Gardner's growing season runs out in roughly 6 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/04 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/23 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/17 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gardner against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 157 frost-free days, Gardner places 33,242 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MA, it ranks 592 of 712.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 01366: local microclimates, on what one yard in Gardner can differ from the 01366 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 6a and Gardner's frost date answer different questions.