When to plant in Ward, AR

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 30

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 1

1 year in 10 by Oct 19

Frost-free days

212

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Cabot · 11.6 km away · station 97 m, town 74 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 19 – Mar 5	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 10
Sweet pepper	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 26 – Feb 2	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 11
Peas	—	Feb 16 – Mar 16	Apr 12
Bush beans	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	May 29
Carrot	—	Mar 9 – Apr 20	May 8
Beet	—	Mar 2 – Apr 13	Apr 21
Potato	—	Mar 9 – Mar 30	May 18
Kale	Jan 19 – Feb 2	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 14
Broccoli	Jan 19 – Feb 2	Mar 2 – Mar 23	May 1
Cucumber	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 31
Winter squash	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jul 5
Sweet corn	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 2 – Mar 23	May 31
Garlic	—	Oct 18 – Nov 15 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 16 – Mar 16	Mar 26
Basil	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 12

Plan all 65 crops for Ward

Ward'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
1966	Apr 6
1967	Mar 18
1968	Apr 6
1969	Mar 26
1970	Apr 3
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 2
1973	Apr 11
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 4
1976	Mar 17
1977	Mar 23
1978	Mar 17
1979	Apr 5
1980	Apr 15
1981	Mar 26
1982	Apr 10
1983	Apr 21
1984	Mar 11
1985	Apr 9
1986	Mar 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Mar 30
1989	Apr 11
1990	Apr 8
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 18
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 1
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 18
1998	Mar 22
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 9
2002	Mar 27
2004	Mar 16
2005	Mar 18
2006	Mar 28
2009	Apr 7
2010	Mar 5
2011	Apr 5
2012	Mar 6
2013	Mar 28
2014	Apr 15
2015	Mar 10
2016	Mar 22
2017	Mar 16
2018	Apr 17
2019	Apr 3
2020	Apr 16

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1966	209
1967	230
1968	205
1969	223
1970	189
1971	210
1972	206
1973	212
1974	217
1975	222
1976	217
1977	207
1978	235
1979	213
1980	192
1981	211
1982	197
1983	204
1984	244
1985	209
1986	234
1987	190
1988	231
1989	191
1990	200
1991	215
1992	214
1993	223
1994	201
1995	206
1996	191
1997	182
1998	228
1999	188
2000	182
2004	253
2010	239
2011	198
2012	237
2013	219
2014	199
2015	248
2016	235
2018	206
2019	211

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1966	22.4 °C
1967	22.2 °C
1968	22.4 °C
1969	23.0 °C
1970	23.7 °C
1971	22.7 °C
1972	23.3 °C
1973	22.8 °C
1974	22.4 °C
1975	22.6 °C
1976	21.8 °C
1977	24.2 °C
1978	23.6 °C
1979	22.1 °C
1980	24.6 °C
1981	23.2 °C
1982	22.6 °C
1983	22.4 °C
1984	22.5 °C
1985	23.1 °C
1986	23.6 °C
1987	23.8 °C
1988	23.1 °C
1989	22.4 °C
1990	23.5 °C
1991	23.5 °C
1992	22.1 °C
1993	21.9 °C
1994	21.1 °C
1995	21.5 °C
1996	20.6 °C
1997	18.9 °C
1998	24.2 °C
2004	22.7 °C
2008	22.9 °C
2010	24.9 °C
2011	24.2 °C
2012	24.5 °C
2013	22.6 °C
2014	22.2 °C
2015	23.8 °C
2016	24.0 °C
2017	23.0 °C
2018	23.8 °C
2019	23.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1966, Ward's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown 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 Cabot (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Austin Beebe Cabot Jacksonville Vilonia Little Rock Air Force Base