When to plant in Hertford, NC

Planting dates worked out from Hertford's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

Apr 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 16

1 year in 10 by Nov 3

Frost-free days

232

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Edenton · 20.8 km away · station 3 m, town 3 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Hertford plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 4
Sweet pepper	Jan 30 – Feb 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 9
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 22 – Jan 29	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 7
Peas	—	Feb 12 – Mar 12	Apr 8
Bush beans	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	May 23
Carrot	—	Mar 5 – Apr 16	May 4
Beet	—	Feb 26 – Apr 9	Apr 17
Potato	—	Mar 5 – Mar 26	May 14
Kale	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 10
Broccoli	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 26 – Mar 19	Apr 27
Cucumber	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 25
Winter squash	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 29
Sweet corn	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 2
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 26 – Mar 19	May 27
Garlic	—	Nov 2 – Nov 30 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 12 – Mar 12	Mar 22
Basil	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 6

Plan all 65 crops for Hertford

Hertford's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1896	Apr 5
1898	Apr 6
1899	Apr 6
1900	Mar 22
1902	Mar 7
1903	Apr 5
1904	Apr 20
1905	Mar 17
1906	Mar 21
1907	Apr 15
1908	Apr 21
1909	Apr 11
1910	Mar 17
1911	Mar 25
1912	Mar 18
1913	Mar 18
1914	Apr 11
1915	Apr 5
1916	Mar 20
1917	Apr 10
1920	Apr 11
1921	Apr 12
1922	Mar 23
1923	Apr 10
1924	Apr 5
1925	Mar 24
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 12
1928	Apr 17
1929	Mar 11
1930	Apr 1
1931	Mar 21
1932	Mar 24
1933	Mar 30
1934	Mar 24
1935	Mar 15
1936	Apr 4
1937	Apr 11
1938	Mar 7
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 14
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 23
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 6
1946	Feb 25
1947	Mar 29
1948	Mar 29
1949	Feb 12
1950	Apr 15
1952	Mar 27
1953	Apr 22
1954	Mar 22
1955	Mar 28
1956	Mar 25
1957	Mar 11
1958	Mar 15
1959	Mar 29
1960	Mar 25
1961	Mar 19
1962	Mar 9
1963	Mar 23
1964	Mar 31
1965	Apr 1
1966	Mar 29
1967	Mar 25
1968	Mar 15
1969	Mar 28
1970	Mar 30
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 9
1973	Mar 1
1974	Mar 26
1975	Apr 6
1976	Mar 18
1977	Mar 8
1979	Mar 17
1980	Mar 14
1981	Mar 22
1982	Apr 8
1983	Mar 26
1984	Mar 15
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 10
1987	Mar 20
1988	Mar 22
1989	Apr 12
1990	Mar 8
1991	Mar 12
1993	Mar 20
1995	Mar 11
1996	Apr 8
1997	Apr 10
1998	Mar 13
1999	Mar 16
2000	Mar 18
2001	Mar 28
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 31
2004	Apr 6
2005	Apr 17
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 9
2008	Mar 18
2009	Mar 25
2010	Mar 9
2011	Mar 29
2012	Mar 11
2013	Mar 29
2014	Mar 27
2015	Mar 29
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 23
2018	Mar 27
2019	Mar 27
2020	Mar 8
2021	Apr 3
2022	Mar 29
2023	Mar 21
2024	Mar 25
2025	Mar 9
2026	Mar 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	232
1899	241
1900	239
1902	273
1903	215
1904	200
1905	241
1907	189
1908	194
1909	201
1910	226
1911	222
1912	242
1913	217
1914	199
1915	212
1917	204
1920	215
1921	214
1922	209
1923	213
1924	225
1925	200
1926	190
1927	208
1928	191
1929	255
1930	203
1931	230
1932	233
1933	223
1934	218
1935	253
1936	209
1937	206
1938	262
1939	206
1940	189
1941	225
1942	202
1943	207
1944	214
1946	263
1947	233
1948	256
1949	279
1950	211
1952	207
1953	197
1954	223
1955	222
1957	230
1958	259
1959	233
1960	214
1961	247
1962	231
1963	236
1964	235
1965	211
1966	215
1967	225
1968	250
1969	231
1970	238
1971	214
1972	227
1973	250
1974	234
1975	222
1976	224
1977	249
1979	257
1980	249
1981	211
1982	212
1983	232
1984	244
1985	236
1986	217
1987	216
1988	257
1989	223
1990	255
1991	238
1993	245
1995	242
1996	209
1997	220
1998	279
1999	245
2000	242
2001	229
2002	234
2003	243
2004	217
2005	195
2006	196
2007	221
2008	225
2009	250
2010	263
2011	233
2012	258
2013	228
2014	220
2015	239
2016	216
2017	232
2018	228
2019	226
2020	255
2021	234
2022	233
2023	226
2024	249
2025	246

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	22.2 °C
1898	22.4 °C
1899	22.2 °C
1900	23.7 °C
1904	21.5 °C
1905	21.8 °C
1906	22.5 °C
1907	20.6 °C
1908	21.6 °C
1910	21.6 °C
1911	22.7 °C
1912	23.0 °C
1913	22.8 °C
1914	22.4 °C
1915	22.6 °C
1916	22.1 °C
1917	21.3 °C
1920	22.0 °C
1921	22.6 °C
1922	22.5 °C
1923	22.6 °C
1924	22.2 °C
1925	22.8 °C
1926	22.6 °C
1927	22.0 °C
1928	22.5 °C
1929	22.6 °C
1930	23.6 °C
1931	23.0 °C
1932	22.3 °C
1935	22.5 °C
1936	22.9 °C
1937	22.5 °C
1938	22.9 °C
1939	22.9 °C
1940	22.0 °C
1941	22.9 °C
1942	24.0 °C
1944	23.4 °C
1946	22.4 °C
1947	22.3 °C
1949	22.9 °C
1950	21.6 °C
1951	21.1 °C
1952	21.8 °C
1953	20.8 °C
1954	22.7 °C
1955	23.3 °C
1956	22.6 °C
1957	23.3 °C
1958	22.5 °C
1959	23.2 °C
1960	23.0 °C
1961	22.3 °C
1962	22.1 °C
1963	21.6 °C
1964	22.5 °C
1965	22.4 °C
1966	21.8 °C
1967	21.6 °C
1968	22.8 °C
1969	22.6 °C
1970	23.1 °C
1971	22.5 °C
1972	22.0 °C
1973	23.0 °C
1974	22.3 °C
1975	22.6 °C
1976	22.1 °C
1977	23.6 °C
1978	23.0 °C
1979	22.7 °C
1980	23.9 °C
1981	22.9 °C
1982	21.9 °C
1983	22.1 °C
1984	21.8 °C
1985	22.9 °C
1986	22.8 °C
1987	23.0 °C
1988	22.3 °C
1989	22.5 °C
1990	22.7 °C
1991	23.4 °C
1992	21.6 °C
1993	23.0 °C
1995	22.9 °C
1996	22.5 °C
1997	21.9 °C
1998	23.1 °C
1999	22.6 °C
2000	22.4 °C
2001	22.0 °C
2002	22.8 °C
2003	22.1 °C
2004	23.3 °C
2005	22.6 °C
2006	22.2 °C
2007	22.6 °C
2008	22.9 °C
2009	22.9 °C
2010	24.2 °C
2011	23.9 °C
2012	22.9 °C
2013	22.3 °C
2014	22.6 °C
2015	23.4 °C
2016	23.2 °C
2017	23.6 °C
2018	23.7 °C
2019	24.3 °C
2020	22.8 °C
2021	23.0 °C
2022	23.2 °C
2023	22.7 °C
2024	23.2 °C
2025	23.4 °C
2026	23.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1896, Hertford's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Edenton (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Edenton Elizabeth City Plymouth Moyock Ahoskie Windsor