Why you should wait until after April 15th to plant

I have this rule of thumb for gardeners in the Charlotte region for when to plant your tender flowers and vegetable gardens to prevent them from succumbing to a freeze. I usually say wait until after April 15^th tax day which is an easy date to remember. Now there have been freezes as late as late as May 2^nd but in 131 years of record keeping there has only been 8 times that we have had a freeze after April 15^th. Now there has been many more frosts than that which can occurred even when the temperatures is above 32° but if you are worried about freezes after April 15^th is pretty safe. Based on just those 8 times we have hit 32° or lower here in Charlotte you would only have a 6% chance of a freeze occurring. That means you are 94% safe from a freeze after the date of April 15^th. Freezes after April 15th are very rare.