Last and first frost dates in Little Rock

When is the last frost in Little Rock?

The last frost in Little Rock usually comes around 3 March: 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 10 February, while corn waits until 10 March. The first autumn frost follows around 20 November, about 262 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.

What planting zone is Little Rock?

The official USDA map (2023, 1991–2020 data) puts the centre of Little Rock (ZIP 72201) in zone 8a. Zone 8a stands for an average coldest night of 10 to 15 °F (-12.2 to -9.4 °C), so perennials hardy to zone 8a or a colder zone should come through a typical winter here.

Check the official USDA map for Little Rock: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

When the soil warms up in Little Rock

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 26 days before the last spring frost and 15 °C 13 days after it.

Frost dates near Little Rock

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Shreveport (20 February) and latest in Joplin (30 March).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Little Rock

Within 15 km of Little Rock OpenStreetMap lists 2 garden centres (collected 20 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is Cantrell Gardens Nursery, 7 km away.

• Cantrell Gardens Nursery — garden centre
  Cantrell Road 7800, 72227 Little Rock · 7 km · cantrellgardens.com
• Maumelle Nursery — garden centre
  Maumelle Boulevard, North Little Rock · 12 km

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Little Rock
• Selling your own harvest in the United States

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Little Rock by month

Average weather in Little Rock over 2016–2025: the warmest month is July. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: April–October (22.4–33.3 °C). Months that average 30 °C or more by day: June–September (30–33.3 °C). No month averages below 0 °C at night; the coldest nights, in January, average 1.2 °C. About 1304 mm of rain falls in a year, on 121 days; April is the wettest month (163 mm) and September the driest (73 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).