![\"\"](\"http:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Understanding-Your-Average-Last-Spring-Frost-Date.jpg\" "\\"Understanding")
<\/a><\/p>\nFirst, there is only an average<\/em> given for this date because it varies! It is not like a holiday that happens on a certain day. It is more like wondering if it will actually snow on Christmas day. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.<\/p>\n Here in southwestern Idaho, the average last frost date in the spring is close to May 15. It could be sooner or it could be later. The main thing is to know that it could very well be later. If there are any frost sensitive plants out in the garden before the late end of the range (usually the beginning of June), then a gardener should be diligent to watch the nighttime lows.<\/p>\n I always protect my frost sensitive plants if the predicted low is less than 40\u00b0F. Fortunately, I have never seen the predicted low vary by more than 8-9 degrees.<\/p>\n Protecting the plants means covering them with a plastic container, bucket, or fabric draped on a support if they are already planted out in the garden, as I go into detail in Useful Pots for Late Spring Frost Protection<\/a>. If the plants are still in pots, it is a matter of either bringing them all into my greenhouse or putting them on shelves next to the house and covering that.<\/p>\n As I discuss some in the video, one of the reasons warm weather plants sometimes get planted out early is because they get too large for their pot. It is a choice between the work of repotting them and watching the weather. Since there are usually a limited number of low-temperature nights, planting out is frequently the most practical.<\/p>\nWhat You Need to be Doing if there Might Still be a Frost<\/h4>\n