Spring is here, but has NC seen the last frost? Forecasters’ advice on when to plant
Forsythia bushes and hyacinths are already blooming, and warm weekend temperatures had some people putting on their flip flops.
Spring officially sneaks in Tuesday night at 11:06 p.m., and if that prompts sweet dreams of Bibb lettuce or summer tomatoes, you may wonder, Is winter really over? Are we finally safe from frost?
Here’s what the weather experts say about planting your garden.
Nick Petro: The data tell you when to dig
“I always look to the past when I’m predicting the future on when it’s safe to plant my garden,” says Nick Petro, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Raleigh.
And history tells Petro that, “Typically, our last frost occurs after the first week in April. It would not be unusual for us to have a frost through about the 10th of April. A little later to the west of Raleigh, a little sooner to the east of Raleigh.
“But around the Triangle, the 10th of April is usually the latest when we have a frost so generally speaking, that’s when I start to plant my garden.”
Big Weather waits until Tax Day
Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker, chief meteorologist for ABC11, has an easy-to-remember answer for anxious gardeners who want to be sure they’re not setting their seedlings up for slaughter.
Though he says the average last frost date for the Triangle is April 3, he also looked up the date of the latest last freeze on record: May 10, 1977, when the temperature fell to 32 degrees at RDU International Airport.
“I tell people Tax Day,” Schwenneker said. That’s April 15. “You pay the government and Mother Nature pays you back.”
Schwenneker says he’s not much of a gardener himself, but his son starts seedlings this time of year on the family’s back porch and Schwenneker helps however he can.
From the NCSU academics, a spreadsheet
The experts at N.C. State University Cooperative Extension Service take a more nuanced approach, offering a spreadsheet that accounts for differences between beets planted in central North Carolina and lima beans planted farther east.
The Extension Service also offers this guide for gardeners in central North Carolina and differentiates between planting seeds and setting transplants.
For the record, it says April 15 is the right time to put those tomato plants into the garden.
How to protect plants from a late frost
If you jump the gun on planting or there’s an exceptionally late frost, the Extension Service offers these tips on protecting plants from the cold.
▪ Water plants ahead of freezing temperatures.
▪ Trap heat by draping the plant with a frost cloth or bed sheet, covering all the way to the ground, straight down from the widest part of the plant.
▪ Mulch around the base of the plant to keep a more constant temperature.
NC receives ‘D’ grade from group monitoring protections for live organ transplant donors
Pelicans are being killed on the NC coast. Rescuer suspects out-of-state fishermen
Lyme disease is ‘almost epidemic’ in parts of NC. What you — and your doctor — need to know
