Gardiner, ME 04535 Frost Dates
04535, near Gardiner, ME: the frost window
The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/27, about 242 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 10/18, roughly 172 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Gardiner 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
Gardiner's growing season runs out in roughly 7 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.
Why 04/27 isn't a guarantee
04/27 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 04/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 05/10 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Gardiner against the rest of the dataset
At roughly 172 frost-free days, Gardiner places 28,263 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within ME, it ranks 106 of 456.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 04535: local microclimates, on what one yard in Gardiner can differ from the 04535 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 5b and Gardiner's frost date answer different questions.