Last and first frost dates in Wellington

When is the last frost in Wellington?

The last frost in Wellington usually comes around 17 August: 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 27 July, while corn waits until 17 October.

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 Wellington

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 32 days after the last spring frost and 15 °C 97 days after it.

Frost dates near Wellington

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Napier (31 July) and latest in Palmerston North (11 August).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Wellington

Within 15 km of Wellington OpenStreetMap lists 2 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 2 plant nurseries and 3 markets (collected 20 October 2026). The nearest farm supply to the city centre is Red Barn Supply Company, 9 km away.

• Red Barn Supply Company — farm supply
  Takarau Gorge Road 106, 6037 Wellington · 9 km · redbarnsupply.co
• Harbourside Market — market
  Cable Street 75, 6011 Wellington · Sun 07:30–13:00 · 0 km
• Newtown Fruit & Vegetables Market — market
  Mein Street, 6021 Newtown, Wellington · Sat 07:00–14:00 · 2 km
• Riverbank Market — market
  Sat 06:00–14:00 · 14 km

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Wellington
• Selling your own harvest in New Zealand

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Wellington by month

Average weather in Wellington over 2016–2025: the warmest month is January. No month averages 20 °C by day; the warmest, January, reaches 18.7 °C. No month averages below 0 °C at night; the coldest nights, in July, average 6.2 °C. About 1123 mm of rain falls in a year, on 138 days; July is the wettest month (119 mm) and January the driest (45 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).