Tupelo, MS Frost Dates
Average frost dates, USDA hardiness zone, and growing season length for Tupelo, Mississippi.
Gardening in Tupelo
Elvis' birthplace is also northeast Mississippi's agricultural center. The Tombigbee Hills' red clay grows food with the same determination that produces the region's famous sweet potatoes.
Zone 7b with 225 frost-free days. The Tennessee-Tombigbee corridor provides fertile valley soil. Northeast Mississippi is slightly cooler and drier than the Gulf Coast.
Tupelo's TVA heritage brought rural electrification and agricultural development. The city's food garden culture draws on hill-country traditions of self-sufficient food production.
What This Means for Tupelo Gardeners
The average last spring frost in Tupelo is around March 25, and the average first fall frost arrives around November 5. That gives you approximately 225 frost-free days to work with.
That's a generous season. You have time for full-size tomatoes, long-season peppers, and even watermelons without the anxiety of racing the frost. Start warm-season seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before your last frost to hit the ground running. Fall planting is your second opportunity — garlic, kale, lettuce, and broccoli all go in 8-10 weeks before your first frost for harvest into late autumn.
These dates are based on NOAA 30-year Climate Normal data for the Tupelo area. Your actual frost dates could shift 2-3 weeks in either direction in any given year. Learn more about our data sources.
What to Grow in Tupelo
Tupelo's 225-day growing season is generous — long enough for two full growing windows (spring and fall) with warm-season crops between them. You can grow the full range of vegetables, herbs, and flowers with proper timing. Focus on heat-tolerant varieties for midsummer and cool-season crops for extended fall harvests. Recommended starting points: tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, squash, garlic, kale, and sunflowers.
See the full Mississippi planting guide for all 40 plants: Mississippi Planting Calendar. Or enter your zip code for exact planting dates personalized to Tupelo.
More About Zone 7B
Tupelo is in USDA Hardiness Zone 7B, which means average annual extreme minimum temperatures between 5°F to 10°F. View the full Zone 7B planting guide.
See the complete planting calendar for Mississippi: Mississippi Planting Calendar.
Other Cities in Mississippi
Frequently Asked Questions
These dates are based on NOAA's 30-year Climate Normal data for the Tupelo area. They represent historical averages, not predictions. In any given year, the actual last frost could be 2-3 weeks earlier or later. Microclimates within Tupelo (urban heat islands, hilltops, low-lying valleys) can also shift your local frost dates by a week or more.
Cool-season crops go in 3-4 weeks before your last frost (March 25). Warm-season crops wait until 2 weeks after. You have time for a fall round too — plant cool-season crops again in late summer for harvest into autumn. Enter your zip code for exact dates.