I'm not GAAlan but this link has a lot of good data on spring last freeze dates: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/lastfrz.shtml

Atlanta and Athens (where I am) look like they're between March 20th and April 10th on their map. Averaging their data for Athens, I get March 27th as the average last spring freeze date.

So if I were starting seeds, I'd think about getting busy this weekend or next?

Here is a link that might be useful: Last Spring Freeze Dates from NOAA

If you use the winter sowing method (see winter sowing forum) you can start seeds now. Many vegetables and annuals, or perennials that do not need a cold treatment survive just fine sown outside using that method.

GGG

Here are my dates......

Latest Freeze
1997: April 14
1998: March 14
1999: March 28
2000: April 9
2001: March 28
2002: March 24
2003: March 31
2004: March 23
2005: March 9

Thanks! Although I don't remember such early spring weather last year...hopefully it will be the same this year.

Last spring was a season of contrasts. While it was the earliest last freeze, it was also the latest last frost. It was 11 days later than the previous latest last frost. So who knows!!

Hmmm...I didn't know there was a difference. If you don't mind, could you tell me the last frost days too?

Though light, I have noted frost occuring as high as 38F.

Date of Last Frost
1997: April 14
1998: March 23
1999: March 28
2000: April 10
2001: April 19
2002: March 24
2003: April 1
2004: April 1
2005: April 25

I see I was wrong when I said last spring's frost was the latest by 11 days. I overlooked the date for 2001.

GaAlan:
I notice you are from Atlanta and you list your zone as 8. I have been sooooo confused about the changing of the zones. I was convinced that I was in 7b and then I read that it is now 8. Later, I was convinced that I was really still in 7b. There seems to have been some disagreement about zone changes. I live in Carrollton, Ga. What zone do you think I am in?

Yomamanem, last I heard Atlanta and surrounding areas were officially zone 8. I have been recording daily weather at my home since 1/1/97, and my observations are all 8a or warmer except one day of one winter. The winter of 02/03 my lowest temp was 9F, which is 7b. I have been a solid zone 8 the rest of the time. This winter so far for me is zone 9a, unless something drastic happens. I think its safe to say you are zone 8.

The microclimate created by the city may make metro Atlanta zone 8a, but the data used to create the new zone hardiness map only covers about 15 or 20 years. The zones have not really changed. I am just north of Savannah, about 35 miles. I am right on the border of 8a/8b. It has not changed. This year has been 9b, but that is obviously not the norm. In carrollton, you are in 7b. Your property's microclimate could be 8a or 7a in different places. You would be best to stick to the assumption of 7b.

I might have to disagree with you about zone changes. If you consider the heat island effect from the downtown area, then you must consider a watered down version could be taking place in more rural areas as well.

In my area over the last 10 years the amount of development is amazing. I know of two tracts of land in varying stages of development right now, both in excess of 100 acres, less than 2 miles from my home. In each case what was once woods has(or will) be replaced by houses, driveways, roads. I do not find fault in this, as it is part of the ever changing world in which we now live. I do, however, think of these as dead areas, meaning they don't contribute any positive influence on environmental conditions. No matter how well intentioned a developer may be, you can't replace 200+ acres of mature trees with small patches of bermuda and two bradford pears. This cannot be helped. As our population grows we need places to live and work. Even so, the space a house takes up, its driveway, the road leading to and away from it, none has the ability to help moderate the environment around them. Everyone here has experienced the heat from a parking lot in August! Every city in the state has or will experience similar changes. Also consider that developing areas get closer to one another all the time, and that undisturbed(natural) places get farther apart. Thinking of all this, how can we expect to ever go back to what we once considered normal patterns of weather.

Umm, I simply don't agree. The effect is isolated and if you look at high altitude pictures, you will see that the developed land area still isn't a very high percentage in most places. Talk to a lot of the nursery people you buy from, or your county extension agent. The zones have not changed. They may, and probably will, one day, but the new chart that was put out is pretty silly really. They call me zone 9 now and a solid zone 9. I should be able to grow many citrus varieties without much protection, but citrus will not grow in my area except a few very cold hardy varieties. I was just trying to get yomamanem to avoid problems by following flawed guidelines. As you say, you have kept climate data for a decade. I'm sure it is very beneficial information, but don't think that we have suddenly changed a weather pattern that drastically in a decade. It has not happened. We are in a cycle and within a couple of years, we will have some very cold winters again. The zones will show true again. In the heart of Atlanta, I do agree with you, the microclimate probably has changed to an 8 but then it will still be isolated. The mass of our atmosphere is simply too large.

I am wrong and you are right. Personally I'd like to see that colder cycle come around sooner rather than later.

The only thing that I pay attention to (I still consider myself to be in zone 8b and it's only fifty miles to Tallahassee) is what I can grow and what I can't as evidenced by reliable hort documentation and experience. I know in my heart that many a 'zone 8' plant that thrives in the PNW will melt and croak in our humid summers when it reaches 100+ for days on end.

"Lowest temperature" has different meaning where it's 25 degrees at 6 am but doesn't rise much above freezing for three days than it does here where it may dip to 25 during the early morning hours and rise quickly at daybreak to a balmy 50 degrees. Tender perennials with adequate mulch protection may keep some green growth here.

It's hardly worth arguing over if your perennials become crispy critters in the cold, or a sodden mess in the heat. I like to grow what thrives, not try to prove some point by wrapping a tropical in a blanket.

Nell

I fly all the time for business, so I see the Atlanta area and surrounding burbs from high altitude more often than I'd like! It's clear from the air during the day that the Atlanta area is blessed with a great amount of tree cover, moreso than every other urban area I'm familiar with.

But looking down at the city at night, I'm amazed at how much of the Atlanta area is bathed in streetlights. As gardeners we've all experienced how lighting up foliage at night can keep it from freezing on a cold night. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if, solely because of the great extent of outdoor lighting, nighttime temperatures in the metro area aren't as low as they might otherwise have been.

Gaalan, sorry if any of my posts sounded harsh. I wasn't trying to be right, but just helpful. I do wish the cycles would normalize a bit more - this winter or lack thereof has just be ridiculous. Good luck this spring.

Uprooted, I took your first post completely the wrong way, and from then on, had my "you-know-what" on my shoulders. I'm sorry I made you feel as though you had to apologize to me. You were only wanting to be helpful. Thats everyone's goal here. Absolutely NO hard feelings. Good luck to you!

No problem here Gaalan, thanks. I just have a bad habit of being too blunt and sometimes make folks mad without meaning to. You were fine. We are going to have a light freeze tomorrow night and then that is it down here. PLANTING TIME.