Fredericksburg, VA 22736 Frost Dates
22736, near Fredericksburg, VA: the frost window
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 03/28, roughly 212 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 11/08, roughly 226 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Fredericksburg in Zone 7a (0 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
Fredericksburg'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.
How much risk comes with planting early here
03/28 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 03/14 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 04/08 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Fredericksburg against the rest of the dataset
Fredericksburg's growing season runs about 226 days, ranking 11,155 of 40,283 US ZIP codes measured here, longest to shortest. Within VA, it ranks 137 of 1,178.
Learn more
Two guides worth reading on 22736: local microclimates, on what one yard in Fredericksburg can differ from the 22736 normal, and zone vs. frost date, on why Zone 7a and Fredericksburg's frost date answer different questions.