When to plant in Buford, GA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 2

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 18

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 14

1 year in 10 by Nov 2

Frost-free days

242

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Gainesville · 24.0 km away · station 357 m, town 361 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	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 27
Sweet pepper	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Apr 2 – Apr 16	Jun 1
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 14 – Jan 21	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Mar 30
Peas	—	Feb 4 – Mar 4	Mar 31
Bush beans	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	May 15
Carrot	—	Feb 25 – Apr 8	Apr 26
Beet	—	Feb 21 – Apr 4	Apr 12
Potato	—	Feb 25 – Mar 18	May 6
Kale	Jan 7 – Jan 21	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 2
Broccoli	Jan 7 – Jan 21	Feb 18 – Mar 11	Apr 19
Cucumber	Mar 5 – Mar 12	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 22
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 5 – Mar 12	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 17
Winter squash	Mar 5 – Mar 12	Apr 2 – Apr 16	Jun 21
Sweet corn	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	May 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 18 – Mar 11	May 19
Garlic	—	Oct 31 – Nov 28 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 4 – Mar 4	Mar 14
Basil	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 29

Plan all 65 crops for Buford

Buford'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
1902	Mar 19
1903	Mar 2
1904	Apr 17
1905	Apr 16
1906	Mar 25
1907	Apr 15
1908	Mar 1
1909	Mar 26
1911	Apr 1
1912	Mar 27
1913	Mar 29
1914	Apr 22
1915	Apr 4
1916	Apr 10
1917	Apr 10
1918	Mar 11
1919	Apr 2
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 11
1922	Mar 22
1923	Apr 2
1924	Apr 2
1925	Apr 1
1926	Apr 4
1927	Mar 5
1929	Mar 18
1930	Apr 1
1931	Mar 30
1932	Mar 23
1933	Mar 27
1934	Apr 13
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 4
1937	Apr 13
1938	Apr 11
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 21
1941	Mar 31
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 7
1946	Mar 10
1947	Mar 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 17
1952	Apr 7
1953	Apr 21
1954	Mar 22
1955	Mar 30
1956	Apr 21
1957	Mar 28
1958	Apr 8
1959	Mar 19
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 11
1962	Apr 16
1963	Mar 23
1964	Mar 31
1966	Apr 11
1967	Mar 23
1968	Mar 25
1969	Mar 31
1970	Apr 3
1971	Apr 3
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 12
1974	Apr 7
1975	Apr 13
1976	Mar 18
1977	Mar 9
1978	Apr 22
1979	Mar 26
1980	Mar 15
1981	Mar 26
1982	Apr 10
1983	Apr 21
1984	Mar 31
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 6
1988	Mar 17
1989	Apr 12
1990	Apr 9
1991	Mar 6
1992	Apr 3
1993	Apr 3
1994	Mar 11
1995	Mar 11
1996	Mar 23
1997	Feb 23
1998	Mar 14
1999	Mar 5
2000	Mar 14
2001	Mar 28
2002	Mar 24
2003	Mar 31
2004	Mar 24
2006	Mar 28
2007	Apr 9
2008	Mar 26
2009	Mar 6
2010	Mar 8
2011	Mar 8
2012	Mar 7
2013	Mar 29
2016	Mar 5
2017	Mar 18
2019	Apr 2
2020	Mar 8
2021	Apr 4
2022	Mar 15
2023	Mar 22
2024	Mar 20
2025	Mar 4
2026	Mar 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1902	253
1903	236
1904	210
1905	212
1906	199
1907	211
1908	258
1909	212
1911	215
1912	210
1913	205
1914	188
1916	194
1917	185
1918	234
1919	225
1920	197
1921	213
1922	243
1923	220
1924	227
1925	192
1926	205
1927	247
1929	231
1930	213
1931	216
1932	233
1933	225
1934	198
1935	172
1936	209
1937	193
1938	193
1939	185
1940	199
1941	193
1942	197
1943	185
1944	213
1945	211
1946	248
1949	200
1950	198
1951	199
1952	196
1953	199
1954	208
1955	214
1956	201
1957	213
1958	216
1959	232
1960	209
1961	211
1962	193
1963	224
1964	235
1966	205
1967	219
1968	214
1969	228
1970	226
1971	218
1972	222
1973	207
1974	197
1975	215
1976	217
1977	248
1979	233
1980	248
1981	207
1982	209
1983	204
1984	220
1985	211
1986	204
1987	198
1988	245
1989	218
1990	234
1991	242
1992	226
1993	212
1994	257
1995	242
1996	224
1997	265
1998	275
1999	243
2000	248
2001	213
2002	238
2003	238
2004	235
2006	209
2007	211
2008	228
2009	269
2010	243
2011	248
2012	262
2016	261
2017	246
2019	220
2020	267
2021	224
2022	243
2023	224
2024	254
2025	251

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1902	22.4 °C
1903	21.4 °C
1904	21.3 °C
1905	22.2 °C
1906	22.3 °C
1907	21.5 °C
1908	22.3 °C
1909	21.7 °C
1910	21.0 °C
1911	22.0 °C
1912	21.3 °C
1913	21.2 °C
1914	21.2 °C
1915	20.9 °C
1916	21.0 °C
1917	20.4 °C
1918	21.0 °C
1919	22.2 °C
1920	21.2 °C
1921	22.6 °C
1922	21.9 °C
1923	21.1 °C
1924	21.0 °C
1925	23.1 °C
1926	22.2 °C
1927	22.4 °C
1928	21.6 °C
1929	21.5 °C
1930	22.7 °C
1931	22.5 °C
1932	22.0 °C
1933	22.5 °C
1934	22.5 °C
1935	21.6 °C
1937	21.5 °C
1938	21.4 °C
1939	21.7 °C
1940	20.6 °C
1941	22.2 °C
1942	21.0 °C
1943	22.0 °C
1944	22.1 °C
1945	22.5 °C
1946	21.9 °C
1947	21.6 °C
1949	21.4 °C
1950	21.6 °C
1951	22.6 °C
1952	23.2 °C
1953	22.7 °C
1954	23.2 °C
1955	22.8 °C
1956	22.2 °C
1957	22.9 °C
1958	22.6 °C
1959	22.9 °C
1960	22.6 °C
1961	21.1 °C
1962	22.5 °C
1963	21.9 °C
1964	22.2 °C
1966	20.4 °C
1967	19.6 °C
1968	20.6 °C
1969	20.9 °C
1970	21.4 °C
1971	20.7 °C
1972	20.4 °C
1973	20.7 °C
1974	20.3 °C
1975	20.8 °C
1976	20.0 °C
1977	22.1 °C
1979	20.5 °C
1980	21.9 °C
1981	21.4 °C
1982	20.8 °C
1983	20.9 °C
1984	21.4 °C
1985	21.6 °C
1986	22.9 °C
1987	22.5 °C
1988	22.0 °C
1989	20.9 °C
1990	22.1 °C
1991	22.8 °C
1992	21.3 °C
1993	22.9 °C
1994	21.9 °C
1995	22.9 °C
1996	22.3 °C
1997	21.2 °C
1998	23.5 °C
1999	22.5 °C
2000	21.3 °C
2001	21.6 °C
2002	22.6 °C
2003	21.3 °C
2004	21.7 °C
2006	22.2 °C
2007	22.2 °C
2008	21.5 °C
2009	21.5 °C
2010	23.2 °C
2011	22.7 °C
2012	21.9 °C
2016	22.7 °C
2017	21.6 °C
2019	22.9 °C
2020	21.1 °C
2021	21.1 °C
2022	22.0 °C
2023	21.3 °C
2024	22.4 °C
2025	22.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Buford's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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