When to plant in Canaan, CT

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

Safe to plant out

Jun 1

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 15

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 5

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

144

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Falls Village · 9.1 km away · station 168 m, town 205 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 6 – Apr 20	Jun 1 – Jun 15	Jul 26
Sweet pepper	Mar 23 – Apr 6	Jun 1 – Jun 15	Jul 31
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 1	May 27
Peas	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 30
Bush beans	—	May 25 – Jun 15	Jul 14
Carrot	—	Apr 24 – Jun 5	Jun 23
Beet	—	Apr 17 – May 29	Jun 6
Potato	—	Apr 24 – May 15	Jul 3
Kale	Mar 6 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 1	May 30
Broccoli	Mar 6 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 8	Jun 16
Cucumber	May 4 – May 11	Jun 1 – Jun 15	Jul 21
Summer squash and zucchini	May 4 – May 11	Jun 1 – Jun 15	Jul 16
Winter squash	May 4 – May 11	Jun 1 – Jun 15	Aug 20
Sweet corn	—	May 25 – Jun 15	Jul 24
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 17 – May 8	Jul 16
Garlic	—	Sep 21 – Oct 19 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 13
Basil	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 1 – Jun 15	Jul 28

Plan all 65 crops for Canaan

Canaan'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	May 19
1917	May 24
1919	Apr 30
1922	May 1
1923	May 24
1924	Jun 1
1925	May 27
1926	May 21
1927	May 21
1928	May 15
1929	Jun 3
1930	Jun 1
1931	May 6
1932	Jun 8
1933	Jun 2
1934	May 19
1935	May 25
1936	May 22
1937	May 16
1938	Jun 1
1939	May 19
1940	May 13
1941	May 31
1942	May 11
1943	May 5
1944	Jun 8
1945	May 25
1946	May 14
1947	May 31
1948	May 16
1949	May 30
1950	May 9
1951	May 14
1952	May 17
1953	Apr 30
1954	May 15
1955	May 21
1956	May 29
1957	May 17
1958	May 14
1959	May 10
1960	May 3
1961	May 31
1962	May 13
1963	May 25
1964	Jun 3
1965	May 15
1966	May 15
1967	May 17
1968	May 27
1969	May 27
1970	May 8
1971	May 24
1972	May 26
1973	May 19
1974	May 8
1975	May 8
1976	May 13
1977	May 15
1978	May 8
1979	Jun 26
1980	Jun 9
1981	May 20
1982	May 6
1983	May 18
1984	May 18
1985	May 9
1986	May 10
1987	May 14
1988	May 4
1989	May 4
1990	May 23
1991	Apr 26
1992	May 7
1993	Jun 2
1994	May 28
1995	May 9
1996	May 15
1997	May 8
1998	May 14
1999	May 13
2000	May 16
2001	Jun 1
2002	Jun 4
2003	May 4
2004	May 5
2005	May 13
2006	May 1
2007	May 14
2009	May 20
2010	May 12
2011	May 7
2012	May 13
2013	May 28

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1916	133
1917	109
1919	149
1922	147
1923	116
1924	129
1925	118
1926	141
1927	142
1928	132
1929	107
1930	122
1931	145
1932	109
1934	135
1935	114
1936	126
1937	124
1938	99
1939	121
1940	103
1942	140
1943	145
1944	107
1945	127
1946	112
1948	123
1949	117
1950	130
1951	138
1952	139
1953	145
1954	120
1955	153
1956	114
1957	132
1958	140
1959	129
1960	151
1961	126
1962	130
1963	111
1964	104
1965	135
1966	133
1967	116
1968	130
1969	130
1970	150
1971	123
1972	127
1973	124
1974	139
1975	129
1976	109
1977	144
1978	124
1979	85
1980	118
1981	142
1982	157
1983	155
1984	137
1985	155
1986	129
1987	134
1988	147
1989	146
1990	117
1991	155
1992	140
1993	109
1994	127
1995	124
1996	141
1997	136
1998	140
1999	145
2000	135
2001	120
2002	131
2003	151
2004	152
2005	160
2007	164
2009	144
2010	151
2011	152
2012	152
2013	146

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1916	16.3 °C
1917	15.5 °C
1919	16.5 °C
1922	16.9 °C
1923	16.1 °C
1924	15.3 °C
1925	16.8 °C
1926	15.8 °C
1927	15.2 °C
1928	16.1 °C
1929	16.2 °C
1930	16.9 °C
1931	17.3 °C
1932	16.1 °C
1934	17.1 °C
1935	15.7 °C
1936	16.4 °C
1937	16.4 °C
1938	16.4 °C
1939	16.3 °C
1940	15.2 °C
1941	15.4 °C
1942	17.5 °C
1943	16.5 °C
1944	16.7 °C
1945	16.4 °C
1946	15.2 °C
1947	15.4 °C
1949	16.6 °C
1950	15.5 °C
1951	16.5 °C
1952	17.0 °C
1953	16.6 °C
1954	15.3 °C
1955	17.1 °C
1956	15.5 °C
1957	17.1 °C
1958	16.3 °C
1959	17.9 °C
1960	17.0 °C
1961	16.8 °C
1962	16.3 °C
1963	15.9 °C
1964	16.4 °C
1965	16.3 °C
1966	15.9 °C
1967	15.8 °C
1968	16.6 °C
1969	16.6 °C
1970	16.9 °C
1971	16.0 °C
1972	16.0 °C
1973	16.7 °C
1974	16.5 °C
1975	15.9 °C
1976	15.9 °C
1977	16.6 °C
1978	15.7 °C
1979	16.2 °C
1980	17.2 °C
1981	17.1 °C
1982	16.1 °C
1983	17.2 °C
1984	16.7 °C
1985	17.2 °C
1986	17.0 °C
1987	17.4 °C
1988	17.4 °C
1989	17.0 °C
1990	16.9 °C
1991	17.9 °C
1992	15.9 °C
1993	16.9 °C
1994	16.5 °C
1995	15.9 °C
1996	17.1 °C
1997	15.6 °C
1998	17.7 °C
1999	17.6 °C
2000	16.3 °C
2001	17.0 °C
2002	17.4 °C
2003	16.7 °C
2004	16.7 °C
2005	16.6 °C
2007	15.8 °C
2009	15.6 °C
2010	17.2 °C
2011	17.9 °C
2012	17.6 °C
2013	17.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1916, Canaan'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 Falls Village (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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