FrostDateCheck

Ardentown, DE 19703 Frost Dates

19703, near Ardentown, DE: the frost window

Zone 7b

The last spring frost here typically falls around 04/07, about 222 days from today. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/04, roughly 209 days after the last spring frost.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Ardentown in Zone 7b (5 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

Ardentown's growing season runs out in roughly 10 weeks — a cold frame or greenhouse kit is the usual way to keep cool-weather crops going past the first frost.

Why 04/07 isn't a guarantee

04/07 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/26 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/24 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.

Ardentown against the rest of the dataset

At roughly 209 frost-free days, Ardentown places 15,421 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within DE, it ranks 86 of 96.

Learn more

Two guides worth reading on 19703: local microclimates, on what one yard in Ardentown can differ from the 19703 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7b and Ardentown's frost date answer different questions.