When to plant in Las Animas, CO

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

Safe to plant out

May 12

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 29

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 10

1 year in 10 by Sep 29

Frost-free days

166

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Las Animas · 0.7 km away · station 1186 m, town 1188 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Las Animas plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 17 – Mar 31	May 12 – May 26	Jul 6
Sweet pepper	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 12 – May 26	Jul 11
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 25 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 11
Peas	—	Mar 18 – Apr 15	May 12
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 8 – May 20	Jun 7
Beet	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 21
Potato	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 17
Kale	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 14
Broccoli	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 22	May 31
Cucumber	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 1
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jun 26
Winter squash	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 31
Sweet corn	—	May 5 – May 26	Jul 4
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 1 – Apr 22	Jun 30
Garlic	—	Sep 26 – Oct 24 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 18 – Apr 15	Apr 25
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for Las Animas

Las Animas'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
1893	May 15
1894	May 2
1895	May 19
1896	May 12
1897	Apr 22
1898	May 11
1899	May 1
1900	Apr 17
1901	Apr 18
1902	Apr 24
1903	May 1
1904	May 9
1905	Apr 21
1906	Apr 28
1907	May 27
1908	May 7
1909	May 6
1910	May 17
1911	May 11
1912	Jul 5
1913	Apr 23
1914	Apr 25
1915	Jun 23
1916	May 15
1917	May 10
1918	May 11
1919	Jun 1
1920	Apr 29
1921	May 4
1922	May 15
1923	May 15
1924	May 28
1925	May 1
1926	Apr 25
1927	May 10
1928	Apr 24
1929	May 23
1931	May 21
1932	May 1
1933	Apr 21
1934	Mar 23
1936	Apr 30
1937	Apr 27
1938	May 7
1939	Apr 22
1940	May 1
1941	Apr 23
1942	May 15
1943	May 10
1944	May 5
1945	Apr 24
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	May 6
1949	Apr 16
1950	Apr 29
1951	May 3
1952	Apr 23
1953	May 14
1954	May 3
1955	Apr 28
1956	Apr 29
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 23
1960	May 1
1961	Apr 27
1962	May 1
1963	Apr 30
1966	May 13
1967	May 2
1968	Apr 24
1969	Apr 28
1970	May 2
1971	May 13
1972	May 1
1973	Apr 27
1974	Apr 16
1975	Apr 29
1976	Apr 25
1977	Apr 22
1978	May 8
1979	May 11
1980	Apr 18
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 16
1985	Apr 27
1987	Apr 22
1988	Apr 12
1989	May 5
1990	May 4
1991	May 1
1992	Apr 24
1993	May 2
1994	Apr 29
1995	Apr 23
1996	Apr 30
1997	Apr 27
1998	Apr 19
1999	Apr 17
2000	May 13
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 22
2003	May 11
2004	Apr 23
2005	May 12
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 26
2008	May 11
2009	Apr 13
2010	May 14
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 5
2013	May 5
2014	Apr 15
2015	May 12
2016	May 3
2017	May 4
2018	Apr 27
2019	May 24
2020	Apr 20
2021	May 6
2022	Apr 18
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 21
2026	May 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	139
1894	153
1895	125
1896	151
1897	172
1898	118
1899	164
1900	164
1901	177
1902	139
1903	138
1904	175
1905	162
1906	159
1907	130
1909	167
1910	141
1911	160
1912	80
1913	153
1914	165
1915	102
1916	135
1917	137
1918	166
1919	129
1921	138
1922	143
1923	132
1924	115
1925	165
1926	151
1927	137
1929	144
1931	145
1932	154
1933	162
1934	242
1936	153
1937	162
1938	165
1939	170
1940	164
1941	138
1942	133
1943	145
1944	159
1945	141
1946	133
1947	108
1948	153
1949	177
1950	161
1951	135
1952	166
1953	142
1954	164
1955	161
1956	174
1957	193
1958	163
1959	160
1960	171
1961	150
1962	165
1963	184
1966	153
1967	166
1968	176
1969	160
1970	146
1971	127
1972	170
1973	180
1974	181
1975	154
1976	165
1977	171
1979	145
1981	159
1982	167
1983	127
1985	154
1987	167
1988	193
1989	165
1990	157
1991	156
1992	166
1993	159
1994	172
1995	150
1996	169
1997	179
1998	169
1999	164
2000	134
2001	170
2002	173
2003	155
2004	173
2005	147
2006	167
2007	172
2008	164
2009	171
2010	165
2011	162
2012	185
2013	152
2014	196
2015	171
2016	156
2017	158
2018	169
2019	138
2020	141
2021	159
2022	177
2023	163
2024	192
2025	180

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	18.8 °C
1894	18.6 °C
1895	18.2 °C
1896	19.7 °C
1897	19.6 °C
1898	18.8 °C
1899	20.2 °C
1900	19.3 °C
1901	19.9 °C
1902	19.6 °C
1903	18.4 °C
1904	18.2 °C
1905	20.3 °C
1906	19.9 °C
1907	19.2 °C
1908	19.4 °C
1909	20.1 °C
1910	20.5 °C
1911	21.2 °C
1912	18.1 °C
1913	19.5 °C
1914	19.4 °C
1915	18.0 °C
1916	18.3 °C
1917	17.7 °C
1918	19.3 °C
1919	19.1 °C
1920	18.3 °C
1921	19.6 °C
1922	19.4 °C
1923	17.8 °C
1924	17.2 °C
1925	20.6 °C
1926	18.9 °C
1927	19.6 °C
1929	19.4 °C
1931	23.1 °C
1932	21.0 °C
1933	22.6 °C
1934	25.0 °C
1936	22.8 °C
1937	21.7 °C
1938	19.9 °C
1939	20.9 °C
1940	20.1 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	19.9 °C
1943	21.5 °C
1944	19.9 °C
1945	19.3 °C
1946	20.4 °C
1947	20.4 °C
1948	20.5 °C
1949	20.5 °C
1950	20.3 °C
1951	19.7 °C
1952	21.2 °C
1953	20.4 °C
1954	21.9 °C
1955	20.5 °C
1956	20.7 °C
1957	19.6 °C
1958	20.8 °C
1959	20.4 °C
1960	20.3 °C
1961	18.9 °C
1962	20.6 °C
1963	22.2 °C
1966	20.8 °C
1967	20.0 °C
1968	19.9 °C
1969	21.0 °C
1970	20.4 °C
1971	19.9 °C
1972	20.7 °C
1973	19.3 °C
1974	20.6 °C
1975	20.0 °C
1976	20.4 °C
1977	21.8 °C
1978	20.9 °C
1979	20.6 °C
1981	21.0 °C
1982	20.3 °C
1983	20.6 °C
1984	20.0 °C
1985	21.2 °C
1987	21.1 °C
1988	21.4 °C
1989	20.4 °C
1990	20.6 °C
1991	20.7 °C
1992	19.9 °C
1993	19.9 °C
1994	21.1 °C
1995	19.3 °C
1996	20.6 °C
1997	20.0 °C
1998	20.7 °C
1999	20.0 °C
2000	21.9 °C
2001	21.3 °C
2002	22.0 °C
2003	21.0 °C
2004	19.7 °C
2005	20.7 °C
2006	20.8 °C
2007	20.4 °C
2008	20.0 °C
2009	19.5 °C
2010	21.1 °C
2011	21.3 °C
2012	22.2 °C
2013	20.8 °C
2014	20.9 °C
2015	21.2 °C
2016	20.8 °C
2017	20.2 °C
2018	21.6 °C
2019	20.7 °C
2020	21.2 °C
2021	20.6 °C
2022	20.9 °C
2023	20.3 °C
2024	21.7 °C
2025	20.8 °C
2026	22.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Las Animas's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Las Animas (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

La Junta Rocky Ford Ordway Lamar Fowler Springfield