Gardner, MA 01368 Frost Dates
Gardner, MA: when does the frost end?
Around 04/25 is the usual last spring frost, about 240 days away. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/17, roughly 175 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gardner in Zone 5b (-15 to -10°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
With roughly 7 weeks until Gardner's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
Why 04/25 isn't a guarantee
04/25 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/13 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/08 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gardner against the rest of the dataset
Gardner's growing season runs about 175 days, ranking 26,777 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within MA, it ranks 302 of 712.
Learn more
Before leaning on 01368's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Gardner can differ from the 01368 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 5b and Gardner's frost date answer different questions.