Gardening Guides: Frost, Timing, and Planting

Practical guides to working with your frost dates: what they mean, how to protect plants, and when to plant each part of the garden.

• How Frost Dates Work: What the Average Really Means
  An "average last frost date" is not the day frost stops. In half of all years, frost comes later. Here is how frost dates are calculated and how to use the safe, typical, and risky dates on every FrostCal page.
• How to Protect Plants from Frost
  Most frost damage is preventable with a few dollars of fabric and an evening's attention. Here is when to act, which plants need protecting, and the methods that actually hold heat in.
• Frost vs. Freeze vs. Hard Freeze: What's the Difference?
  Frost is ice on surfaces, a freeze is air at 32°F or below, and a hard freeze is 28°F or below for several hours. Each does different damage, and forecasters warn for each one separately.
• When to Start Seeds Indoors
  Seed-starting dates count backward from your typical last spring frost. Start too early and seedlings get leggy and root-bound; too late and they're still small at planting time. Here are the weeks for each crop and how to grow sturdy transplants.
• Fall Garden Planting: How to Time Crops Before Frost
  A fall garden is planted in mid to late summer and timed backward from your first fall frost. Many cool-season crops taste better after a frost, and some, like garlic, are only planted in fall.
• Hardiness Zones vs. Frost Dates: Which One to Use
  Your USDA hardiness zone tells you which perennials survive your winters. Your frost dates tell you when to plant vegetables and annuals. They measure different things, and cities in the same zone can have last frosts weeks apart.
• How to Harden Off Seedlings
  Seedlings raised indoors have never felt direct sun, wind, or a cool night. Hardening off introduces them gradually over 7 to 10 days so they don't scorch, wilt, or stall when you plant them out.