Last and first frost dates in Hamilton

When is the last frost in Hamilton?

The last frost in Hamilton usually comes around 19 April: that is the median of 2016–2025, so in about half of those years the last night at or below 0 °C came later. Hardy crops start before it and frost-tender ones only after it: in the table below arugula can go into open ground from 29 March, while corn waits until 4 May. The first autumn frost follows around 7 November, about 202 days later: harvest or cover frost-tender crops before then.

When to sow and plant

Planting out: a week after the last frost once the soil is warm enough for the crop; frost-hardy crops three weeks before it; an unheated greenhouse three weeks earlier. Seedlings are sown so they are ready on that day. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

When the soil warms up in Hamilton

The day the top 7 cm of soil first averages each temperature over a week, median of 2016–2025 (ERA5 via Open-Meteo). The soil reaches 10 °C 6 days after the last spring frost and 15 °C 30 days after it.

Frost dates near Hamilton

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Erie (10 April) and latest in Kitchener (30 April).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Hamilton

Within 15 km of Hamilton OpenStreetMap lists 10 garden centres, 5 markets and 4 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is Garden Centre, 3 km away.

• Garden Centre — garden centre
  Upper James Street 675 · 3 km
• Hamilton Farmer's Market — market
  York Boulevard 35 · Tue–Fri 09:00–16:00; Wed closed; Sat 08:00–16:00 · 2 km · hamiltonfarmersmarket.ca
• Frootogo Orchards — farm shop
  Parkside Drive 573, Waterdown · 12 km · frootogo.ca
• Harper's Garden Centre — garden centre
  Wilson Street East 1039, L9H 5E3 · Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00; Sat, Sun 09:00–19:00 · 9 km · harpersgardencentre.ca
• Ottawa Street Farmers' Market — market
  Britannia Avenue 3, L8H 3Z5 Hamilton · Sat 08:00–14:00 · 3 km · ottawastreetfarmers.com
• Wier's Lane Lavender & Apiary — farm shop
  Weir's Lane 223, Dundas · 13 km · weirslanelavender.ca

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Hamilton
• Selling your own harvest in Canada

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Hamilton by month

Average weather in Hamilton over 2016–2025: the warmest month is July. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: June–September (23.2–28 °C). Nights average below 0 °C in December–March (-5.3–-1.6 °C). About 893 mm of rain falls in a year, on 129 days; April is the wettest month (99 mm) and September the driest (59 mm).

Average of the daily highs and lows, rain per month and days with at least 1 mm (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, the same grid cell as the frost dates).

Planted in autumn

From a month before the first autumn frost, so the roots grow before winter, to the late-planting limit on each crop’s page (about two weeks before the ground freezes, by ten years of weather).