[vanessa.xx]

Hi i've been looking at a few websites looking at the last frost dates, i was just wondering how accurate people thought these were? after 4 days of glorious sun    i'm getting itchy to get things planted but i'm a total newbie and don't really know what i'm doing 

[simonwatson]

They are based on statistics and probability so some years the last frost will be earlier and sometimes as predicted. The idea of the last frost dates is that it's unlikely there'll be a frost after the end of the period or date, not that it's impossible.

[mumofstig]

we've been discussing last frost dates here - it may help 
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=104818.msg1174585#msg1174585

[vanessa.xx]

Thank you both i will read that now mumofstig 

[Beetroot queen]

Not sure I trust some of the sites where you can look up last frost dates. Ours says end of march. 

Starting to get twitchy about getting stuff in now  will be patient, will be patient, will be patient. How about tomorrow 

[Salmo]

I have looked at some of these frost date sites and do not consider them to be of much practical use.

Are you likely to get any more frosts in Cornwall? I would have thought probably not.

Look at your neighbours gardens and allotments. If they are generally planting out beans and courgettes then you can. Look at weather forecasts.

[Beetroot queen]

I will start sticking some bits in and hope this weekend. I have back ups if needed

[vanessa.xx]

Hi yes are last frost dates are listed as middle of march and I'd say that's proberbly about right, I'm getting really twitchy about getting things out now, I keep walking around the site to see what other people are planting out now ive noticed that I haven't seen any squashes or sweetcorn but runner beans have started going out. This is my first year so apart from the great advice on here I'm pretty much winging it 

[simonwatson]

The met office regional climate page says that on average the south west of England will get a couple of ground frosts and maybe an air frost in May. That doesn't tally well with the fourth week of April suggested on the site in the linked thread above.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/sw/

[richie3846]

On the weatheronline.co.uk website you can pull up detailed histories of temperatures at a weather station near you. I trawled through night temperatures at my local station for May and June from 1982-2012, and was horrified to see the latest air frost to be the 30th May!!!! 

[fatcat1955]

I never plant any tender plant's out until June, i have still been caught out.

[JayG]

I'm aiming to have my tender summer plants ready to plant outdoors at the beginning of June, but even then I'll be nervously scanning the weather forecasts for the possibility of a late ground frost.

The weather has been too unpredictable in the last few years to trust the long-term averages, which often don't seem to agree with each other anyway.

[Beetroot queen]

My French beans will have to go in but I'll maybe order some more fleece incase

[ryetek]

I'm aiming to have my tender summer plants ready to plant outdoors at the beginning of June, but even then I'll be nervously scanning the weather forecasts for the possibility of a late ground frost.

I'm only just slightly more north than you JayG and I distinctly remember we had a frost the first week in June last year. I usually aim to get tender plants out the first or second week in June and keep the fleece ready as I think you and others have already said.