FrostDateCheck

Houston, TX 77235 Frost Dates

When can you plant in Houston, TX?

Zone 9b

Around 02/13 is the usual last spring frost, about 169 days away. The first fall frost typically arrives around 12/09, about 300 frost-free days later.

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Houston in Zone 9b (25 to 30°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.

What to do before the first frost

About 15 weeks of growing season left in Houston before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.

The actual range around Houston's last frost

02/13 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 01/12 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 03/12 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.

How Houston compares

At roughly 300 frost-free days, Houston places 4,022 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within TX, it ranks 354 of 2,558.

Learn more

local microclimates covers what one yard in Houston can differ from the 77235 normal. zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 9b and Houston's frost date answer different questions.