Generally — Most Areas
French tarragon (zones 3-7) suits most of Delaware (7a-8a) — zone 7 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
French Tarragon in Delaware — the short answer
French Tarragon in Delaware: hardy in zones 3–7, against a state median of ~241 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 3-7
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Delaware zones
- 7a-8a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Mar 23 - Mar 23 – Nov 17 - Nov 19
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 238 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Delaware spans zones 7a-8a, but your yard has its own microclimate — slope, trees, and low spots shift frost and sun across a single parcel. Enter your address and we'll score french tarragon against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
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Where French Tarragon Stands in Delaware
French Tarragon is rated for zones 3–7 — a cold floor USDA puts at -40 to -30°F. No Delaware county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Delaware winters, not about french tarragon.
Above the zone 7 ceiling
3 counties
- Kent County · zone 7b
- New Castle County · zone 7b
- Sussex County · zone 7b
Too little winter chill rather than too much cold — a low-chill selection is what changes it.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
French Tarragon Needs
- USDA Zones: 3-7
- Picking window: ~90 days of harvest
Delaware Has
- USDA Zones: 7a-8a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Mar 23 - Mar 23
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 17 - Nov 19
- Annual Rainfall: 42-48 inches
- Common Soils: Sandy loam, Silt loam, Tidal marsh
Plant Zone Range (zones 3-7)
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant French Tarragon in Delaware
The frost window
Across Delaware, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 23 and Mar 23, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 17 and Nov 19 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 239-day window you can count on — up to 241 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Before you plant french tarragon for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before french tarragon goes in. What follows is Delaware’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Delaware — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Delaware — 6,167 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 64 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Delaware carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Delaware
Severity Distribution
across Delaware
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Delaware, Nitrate runs higher than the national average — 1,646 sites across Delaware. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for French Tarragon in Delaware
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Delaware growers also need to think about:
Sandy soils in southern DE drain too quickly
Salt spray damage near the coast
Rising water tables in low-lying areas
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Delaware grower, not just french tarragon — is covered on the Delaware growing guide.
Where in Delaware French Tarragon Is Zone-Hardy
French Tarragon is rated for USDA zones 3–7. Every Delaware county sits above it. Even Kent County, the state’s coldest at zone 7b, is milder than the plant’s zone 7 ceiling — the constraint here is winter chill it will not get, not cold it cannot take.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. French Tarragon’s zone 3–7 band: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Delaware Cooperative Extension
For Delaware-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for french tarragon, the canonical source is University of Delaware Cooperative Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing French Tarragon in Delaware
When can I plant French Tarragon in Delaware?
Delaware's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 23 and Mar 23, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 17 and Nov 19 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Time outdoor planting to after the last hard freeze for your specific site — a further two to three weeks for anything tender — and count back from those dates for transplant scheduling.
What hardiness zone is French Tarragon grown in across Delaware?
Delaware spans USDA hardiness zones 7a-8a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). French Tarragon carries a range of zones 3-7, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Delaware site have?
A typical Delaware site sees ~241 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). French Tarragon should be matched against that window, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Will French Tarragon actually grow on my specific land in Delaware?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores french tarragon against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Delaware
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores french tarragon against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Delaware french tarragon averages can't show:
We read public map data around Delaware — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Delaware french tarragon average
Explore More
Growing guides for french tarragon
Explore Delaware county by county
Delaware carries 3 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for french tarragon there:
Where else french tarragon grows
French Tarragon's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Delaware in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Delaware
Delaware has a growing page for 1,013 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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