Skip to content

USDA Hardiness Zone 7a

Frost Dates for 19508 — Birdsboro, Pennsylvania

Averages from Hopewell Morgantown, PA US, the nearest reporting station, 8.1 miles away.

Plant tender crops after April 16, and expect the first autumn freeze around October 27. That leaves about 193 frost-free days.

Last spring frost
April 16

50% probability

First fall frost
October 27

50% probability

Growing season
193 days

frost-free

Hardiness zone
7a

0 to 5°F annual low

Planting calendar for 19508

What to do and when, based on the frost normals for Birdsboro, Pennsylvania
WhenWhat to do
February 5 – February 19

Start peppers and aubergines indoors

They need eight to ten weeks under lights before they can go out.

February 19 – March 5

Start tomatoes indoors

Six to eight weeks gives a transplant big enough to set fruit early.

March 19 – April 2

Sow peas, spinach, lettuce, radish outdoors

These tolerate light frost and prefer to germinate in cool soil.

April 16 onward

Transplant tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash, cucumbers

The average last freeze has passed — still watch the actual forecast.

by August 4

Sow the autumn crop of carrots, beets and brassicas

They need about twelve weeks to size up before growth stops.

by October 13

Harvest tender crops, or be ready to cover them

A first freeze two weeks early is well within normal variation.

October 27 onward

Plant garlic, mulch beds, lift tender bulbs

Garlic wants a cold spell; bare soil loses structure over winter.

What these dates mean

Wait until after April 16 to put tender plants — tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash — in the ground. That is the date by which half of years in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania are past their last freeze. Harvest before October 27, which leaves roughly 193 frost-free days.

ZIP 19508 sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a, meaning the average coldest night of the year falls between 0 to 5°F. Zone decides what survives the winter; frost dates decide when to plant each spring. They are different questions, and a plant can pass one and fail the other.

These are thirty-year NOAA averages for 1991–2020, not a forecast. Any individual year can frost two to three weeks either side of these dates, so check the actual forecast before planting out.

Other zone 7a ZIP codes in Pennsylvania