What Grows in South Laurel, Maryland

The last hard freeze (28°F) in South Laurel typically lands around Mar 31, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Apr 21.

The first hard freeze (28°F) in South Laurel typically arrives around Nov 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 24, so the watching starts about Oct 8 — about 221 days after the spring freeze cleared.

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, South Laurel sees about 221 frost-free days — roughly Mar 31 through Nov 7, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 21 to Oct 24, about 186 days.

The federal record around South Laurel is a meaningful one — 2,458 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (1,160), the nearest Brownfields record about 0.3 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.

From about Oct 8 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 7 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 7. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.