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USDA Hardiness Zone 8b

Frost Dates for 75605 — Longview, Texas

Averages from Longview #2, Tx US, the nearest reporting station, 3.1 miles away.

Plant tender crops after March 7, and expect the first autumn freeze around November 23. That leaves about 260 frost-free days.

Last spring frost
March 7

50% probability

First fall frost
November 23

50% probability

Growing season
260 days

frost-free

Hardiness zone
8b

15 to 20°F annual low

Planting calendar for 75605

What to do and when, based on the frost normals for Longview, Texas
WhenWhat to do
December 27 – January 10

Start peppers and aubergines indoors

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

January 10 – January 24

Start tomatoes indoors

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

February 7 – February 21

Sow peas, spinach, lettuce, radish outdoors

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

March 7 onward

Transplant tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash, cucumbers

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

by August 31

Sow the autumn crop of carrots, beets and brassicas

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

by November 9

Harvest tender crops, or be ready to cover them

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

November 23 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 March 7 to put tender plants — tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash — in the ground. That is the date by which half of years in Longview, Texas are past their last freeze. Harvest before November 23, which leaves roughly 260 frost-free days.

ZIP 75605 sits in USDA hardiness zone 8b, meaning the average coldest night of the year falls between 15 to 20°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 8b ZIP codes in Texas