Memphis, TN 38116 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Memphis, TN?
Around 03/16 is the usual last spring frost, about 200 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 11/16, about 244 frost-free days later.
Zone 8a (10 to 15°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Memphis, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 11 weeks of growing season left in Memphis before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
The actual range around Memphis's last frost
03/16 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 02/27 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 04/04 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Memphis compares
About 244 days separate Memphis's last and first frost, putting it 8,112 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within TN, it ranks 18 of 770.
Learn more
local microclimates covers what one yard in Memphis can differ from the 38116 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 8a and Memphis's frost date answer different questions.