When to plant in El Dorado, AR

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 13

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 6

1 year in 10 by Oct 24

Frost-free days

220

median, 1991–2020

Station used: El Dorado Goodwin Fld · 13.8 km away · station 78 m, town 82 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 7
Sweet pepper	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 12
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 22 – Jan 29	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 7
Peas	—	Feb 12 – Mar 12	Apr 8
Bush beans	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	May 26
Carrot	—	Mar 5 – Apr 16	May 4
Beet	—	Feb 26 – Apr 9	Apr 17
Potato	—	Mar 5 – Mar 26	May 14
Kale	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 10
Broccoli	Jan 15 – Jan 29	Feb 26 – Mar 19	Apr 27
Cucumber	Mar 16 – Mar 23	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 2
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 16 – Mar 23	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 28
Winter squash	Mar 16 – Mar 23	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jul 2
Sweet corn	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 5
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 26 – Mar 19	May 27
Garlic	—	Oct 23 – Nov 20 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 12 – Mar 12	Mar 22
Basil	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 9

Plan all 65 crops for El Dorado

El Dorado'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
1892	Mar 20
1905	Feb 26
1906	Mar 22
1907	Feb 15
1908	Feb 27
1909	Apr 9
1910	Feb 26
1911	Mar 3
1912	Mar 25
1913	Mar 28
1914	Mar 23
1915	Apr 3
1916	Mar 23
1917	Apr 10
1918	Apr 11
1919	Mar 7
1920	Apr 5
1922	Mar 4
1923	Mar 20
1924	Mar 15
1925	Feb 12
1930	Mar 26
1931	Mar 29
1932	Mar 14
1933	Mar 21
1934	Mar 19
1936	Apr 3
1937	Mar 31
1938	Mar 7
1939	Mar 2
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 19
1942	Mar 28
1943	Mar 22
1944	Mar 8
1945	Feb 8
1946	Mar 9
1947	Mar 28
1948	Mar 14
1950	Apr 6
1951	Apr 3
1952	Mar 24
1953	Mar 5
1954	Mar 16
1955	Mar 29
1956	Mar 20
1957	Mar 27
1958	Mar 20
1959	Apr 14
1960	Mar 20
1961	Apr 16
1962	Apr 3
1963	Mar 23
1964	Mar 30
1965	Mar 21
1966	Apr 6
1967	Mar 18
1968	Apr 6
1969	Mar 27
1970	Apr 3
1971	Apr 7
1972	Mar 6
1973	Apr 11
1974	Mar 24
1975	Apr 4
1976	Mar 17
1977	Mar 20
1978	Mar 28
1979	Mar 25
1980	Apr 15
1981	Mar 24
1982	Mar 26
1983	Apr 3
1984	Mar 11
1985	Feb 28
1986	Mar 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Mar 19
1989	Apr 11
1990	Apr 7
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 15
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 1
1996	Apr 7
1997	Apr 13
1998	Mar 22
1999	Mar 27
2000	Mar 13
2001	Mar 21
2002	Mar 27
2003	Apr 10
2004	Feb 28
2005	Mar 18
2006	Mar 25
2007	Apr 8
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 7
2010	Mar 4
2011	Apr 5
2012	Mar 4
2013	Mar 27
2014	Apr 16
2015	Mar 7
2016	Mar 21
2017	Mar 14
2018	Apr 16
2019	Apr 2
2020	Mar 1
2021	Apr 2
2022	Mar 13
2023	Mar 20
2024	Mar 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1892	234
1905	276
1906	223
1907	269
1908	243
1909	222
1910	244
1911	244
1912	221
1913	215
1914	218
1915	225
1916	235
1917	181
1918	203
1919	250
1920	211
1922	261
1923	253
1924	253
1930	225
1931	260
1932	241
1933	260
1934	256
1936	214
1937	205
1938	245
1939	246
1940	212
1941	235
1942	228
1943	231
1944	263
1945	294
1946	267
1947	224
1950	211
1951	212
1952	205
1953	248
1954	227
1955	209
1956	233
1957	213
1958	231
1959	205
1961	193
1962	214
1963	223
1964	234
1965	217
1966	209
1967	223
1968	205
1969	220
1970	225
1971	210
1972	255
1973	213
1974	234
1975	222
1976	232
1977	234
1978	250
1979	231
1980	192
1981	213
1982	212
1983	222
1984	245
1985	276
1986	235
1987	214
1988	242
1989	191
1990	212
1991	214
1992	215
1993	228
1994	236
1995	215
1996	209
1997	204
1998	228
1999	210
2000	210
2001	220
2002	230
2003	227
2004	269
2005	221
2006	211
2007	212
2008	195
2009	231
2010	239
2011	196
2012	252
2013	229
2014	198
2015	259
2016	236
2017	227
2018	207
2019	212
2020	273
2021	216
2022	218
2023	225
2024	211

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1892	22.1 °C
1905	24.2 °C
1906	24.3 °C
1907	23.7 °C
1908	24.3 °C
1909	24.2 °C
1910	23.7 °C
1911	24.7 °C
1912	23.8 °C
1913	23.5 °C
1914	24.6 °C
1915	24.0 °C
1916	24.4 °C
1917	23.2 °C
1918	24.3 °C
1919	23.9 °C
1920	23.9 °C
1921	25.6 °C
1922	25.0 °C
1924	25.2 °C
1925	26.6 °C
1930	25.8 °C
1931	24.3 °C
1932	25.7 °C
1933	25.5 °C
1934	26.2 °C
1935	24.7 °C
1936	26.2 °C
1937	25.2 °C
1938	25.0 °C
1939	25.6 °C
1940	23.7 °C
1941	25.3 °C
1942	24.7 °C
1943	25.9 °C
1944	25.8 °C
1945	24.1 °C
1946	23.5 °C
1947	24.1 °C
1948	25.7 °C
1950	23.2 °C
1951	24.1 °C
1952	24.2 °C
1953	24.3 °C
1954	25.5 °C
1955	24.7 °C
1956	24.4 °C
1957	23.9 °C
1958	24.0 °C
1959	24.0 °C
1961	22.4 °C
1962	24.2 °C
1963	24.4 °C
1964	24.9 °C
1965	24.4 °C
1966	23.4 °C
1967	23.2 °C
1968	22.9 °C
1969	24.4 °C
1970	24.1 °C
1971	22.9 °C
1972	23.9 °C
1973	23.1 °C
1974	22.8 °C
1975	23.3 °C
1976	23.7 °C
1977	25.8 °C
1978	24.1 °C
1979	23.5 °C
1980	24.8 °C
1981	24.0 °C
1982	24.0 °C
1983	23.3 °C
1984	23.4 °C
1985	24.1 °C
1986	24.7 °C
1987	24.9 °C
1988	24.3 °C
1989	23.6 °C
1990	24.9 °C
1991	24.9 °C
1992	23.1 °C
1993	23.9 °C
1994	23.7 °C
1995	24.0 °C
1996	23.9 °C
1997	23.2 °C
1998	25.6 °C
1999	24.8 °C
2000	25.4 °C
2001	24.3 °C
2002	24.4 °C
2003	24.0 °C
2004	23.8 °C
2005	24.6 °C
2006	24.5 °C
2007	24.0 °C
2008	23.9 °C
2009	23.8 °C
2010	25.8 °C
2011	25.4 °C
2012	24.5 °C
2013	23.7 °C
2014	23.1 °C
2015	24.7 °C
2016	24.7 °C
2017	24.0 °C
2018	25.1 °C
2019	25.0 °C
2020	23.8 °C
2021	23.8 °C
2022	24.6 °C
2023	24.5 °C
2024	24.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1892, El Dorado's last spring frost has come about 1 day later per decade, on average. The frost-free season has shrunk by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from El Dorado Goodwin Fld (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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