When to plant in Bowden, AB

Planting dates worked out from Bowden's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 29

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 18

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 18

1 year in 10 by Sep 3

Frost-free days

124

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Olds · 16.8 km away · station 1040 m, town 988 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Bowden plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Jul 30
Sweet pepper	Mar 27 – Apr 10	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Aug 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 7
Peas	—	Apr 28 – May 26	Jun 22
Bush beans	—	May 26 – Jun 16	Jul 15
Carrot	—	May 8 – Jun 19	Jul 7
Beet	—	May 8 – Jun 19	Jun 27
Potato	—	May 8 – May 29	Jul 17
Kale	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 5 – May 19	Jun 17
Broccoli	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 27
Cucumber	May 8 – May 15	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Jul 25
Summer squash and zucchini	May 8 – May 15	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Jul 20
Winter squash	May 8 – May 15	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Aug 24
Sweet corn	—	May 26 – Jun 16	Jul 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jul 27
Garlic	—	Sep 4 – Oct 2 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 28 – May 26	Jun 5
Basil	Apr 24 – May 8	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Aug 1

Plan all 65 crops for Bowden

Bowden's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1916	Jun 10
1918	Jun 4
1920	Jun 12
1921	Jul 2
1922	Jun 6
1923	May 28
1924	Jun 9
1925	May 24
1926	Jun 10
1927	May 31
1928	May 31
1929	Jun 19
1930	May 25
1931	Jun 3
1932	Jun 4
1933	Jun 10
1934	Jun 3
1935	May 28
1936	Jun 4
1937	May 30
1938	May 15
1939	Jun 1
1940	May 4
1941	May 29
1942	May 30
1943	Jun 5
1944	May 24
1945	Jun 12
1946	May 23
1947	May 29
1948	May 12
1949	Jun 12
1950	Jun 8
1951	Jun 28
1952	Jun 7
1953	May 22
1954	May 4
1955	May 24
1956	May 13
1957	May 22
1958	May 13
1959	May 30
1960	May 23
1961	May 17
1962	May 16
1963	May 23
1965	May 22
1966	May 23
1967	Jun 13
1968	May 21
1969	Jun 13
1970	May 19
1971	May 15
1972	May 19
1973	May 13
1974	May 19
1975	May 20
1976	May 18
1977	Jun 11
1978	May 25
1979	May 28
1980	May 8
1981	May 9
1982	May 30
1983	May 12
1984	May 26
1985	Jun 24
1986	May 17
1987	May 24
1988	May 4
1989	May 29
1990	May 20
1991	May 6
1992	May 23
1993	Jun 4
1994	May 2
1995	May 26
1996	May 24
1997	May 23
1998	May 7
1999	May 17
2000	Jun 2
2001	May 8
2002	May 23
2003	May 20
2011	May 15
2012	May 20
2013	May 2
2014	May 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1916	60
1918	48
1920	76
1921	60
1922	90
1923	97
1924	94
1925	114
1926	88
1927	105
1928	97
1929	74
1930	96
1931	101
1932	88
1933	103
1935	78
1936	98
1937	115
1938	144
1939	99
1940	153
1941	101
1942	110
1943	88
1944	117
1945	96
1946	122
1947	107
1948	126
1949	89
1950	93
1951	74
1952	83
1953	121
1954	135
1955	107
1956	110
1957	118
1958	112
1959	99
1960	120
1961	113
1962	109
1963	136
1965	104
1966	114
1967	101
1968	122
1969	93
1970	114
1971	124
1972	109
1973	111
1974	114
1975	106
1976	112
1977	82
1978	117
1979	124
1980	108
1981	138
1982	103
1983	116
1984	117
1985	73
1986	111
1987	114
1988	136
1989	103
1990	129
1991	125
1992	90
1993	100
1994	121
1995	114
1996	104
1997	117
1998	141
1999	124
2000	100
2001	146
2002	126
2011	145
2012	136
2013	147

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1914	11.0 °C
1916	9.4 °C
1918	10.6 °C
1920	9.3 °C
1921	10.0 °C
1922	11.2 °C
1923	10.4 °C
1924	9.9 °C
1925	10.9 °C
1926	10.2 °C
1927	9.8 °C
1928	10.4 °C
1929	10.8 °C
1930	11.4 °C
1931	11.3 °C
1932	11.4 °C
1933	10.6 °C
1934	11.3 °C
1935	9.6 °C
1936	12.1 °C
1937	11.5 °C
1938	12.3 °C
1939	11.8 °C
1940	12.1 °C
1941	12.2 °C
1942	11.0 °C
1943	11.0 °C
1944	12.0 °C
1945	9.9 °C
1946	11.8 °C
1947	11.1 °C
1948	10.4 °C
1949	12.6 °C
1950	11.0 °C
1951	9.9 °C
1952	11.8 °C
1953	10.3 °C
1954	8.8 °C
1955	10.6 °C
1956	11.5 °C
1957	11.4 °C
1958	12.1 °C
1959	10.2 °C
1960	11.6 °C
1961	12.2 °C
1962	11.4 °C
1963	12.2 °C
1965	10.1 °C
1966	10.5 °C
1967	10.9 °C
1968	10.3 °C
1969	11.6 °C
1970	11.8 °C
1971	11.7 °C
1972	10.3 °C
1973	10.8 °C
1974	10.6 °C
1975	10.2 °C
1976	12.0 °C
1977	10.8 °C
1978	11.1 °C
1979	11.0 °C
1980	11.2 °C
1981	11.6 °C
1982	10.3 °C
1983	11.4 °C
1984	11.1 °C
1985	10.9 °C
1986	10.3 °C
1987	12.1 °C
1988	12.0 °C
1989	11.4 °C
1990	11.2 °C
1991	11.7 °C
1992	10.7 °C
1993	10.6 °C
1994	12.1 °C
1995	10.5 °C
1996	10.5 °C
1997	11.0 °C
1998	13.1 °C
1999	10.7 °C
2000	11.0 °C
2001	12.6 °C
2002	10.9 °C
2003	11.4 °C
2011	11.8 °C
2012	12.7 °C
2013	12.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1916, Bowden's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Olds (NOAA GHCN-Daily, from Environment and Climate Change Canada). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Innisfail Olds Penhold Springbrook Didsbury Carstairs