When to plant in Carroll, IA

Planting dates worked out from Carroll'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 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 20

Frost-free days

158

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Carroll · 1.4 km away · station 378 m, town 387 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Carroll 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	—	Apr 1 – Apr 29	May 26
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 11 – May 23	Jun 10
Beet	—	Apr 11 – May 23	May 31
Potato	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 20
Kale	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 21
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 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 1 – Apr 29	May 9
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for Carroll

Carroll'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 3
1894	May 28
1895	May 19
1896	Apr 9
1897	May 31
1898	Apr 29
1899	May 13
1901	May 12
1902	Apr 23
1903	May 30
1904	May 14
1906	May 9
1907	May 27
1908	May 9
1909	May 10
1910	May 12
1911	May 1
1912	May 14
1913	Apr 29
1914	Apr 21
1915	May 18
1916	May 18
1917	May 7
1918	May 13
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 4
1922	Apr 19
1923	May 9
1924	May 24
1925	May 25
1926	May 14
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 16
1930	May 17
1931	May 21
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 5
1936	Apr 22
1937	May 14
1938	May 8
1939	May 13
1940	May 2
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 4
1943	Apr 28
1944	May 6
1945	May 10
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 26
1952	May 29
1953	May 13
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 7
1956	May 4
1957	May 6
1958	May 8
1959	May 15
1960	May 12
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 10
1967	May 9
1968	May 10
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 28
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 28
1975	May 1
1976	May 8
1978	May 6
1979	May 12
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 27
1983	May 15
1984	May 9
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 24
1989	May 7
1990	May 2
1991	May 7
1992	May 5
1993	Apr 26
1994	May 1
1995	May 2
1996	Apr 27
1997	May 13
1998	Apr 18
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 20
2001	Apr 24
2002	May 1
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 15
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 16
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 13
2013	May 12
2014	May 17
2015	Apr 23
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 28
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 27
2023	Apr 25
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 9
2026	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	144
1894	118
1895	133
1896	162
1897	111
1898	159
1899	135
1901	127
1902	141
1903	108
1904	144
1906	149
1907	120
1908	141
1909	153
1910	160
1911	159
1912	134
1913	145
1914	186
1915	139
1916	119
1917	151
1918	129
1919	166
1920	154
1921	152
1922	172
1923	162
1924	126
1925	134
1926	133
1927	172
1928	150
1929	124
1930	152
1931	166
1932	165
1933	167
1934	141
1935	146
1936	181
1937	124
1938	133
1939	139
1940	145
1941	157
1942	142
1943	141
1944	156
1945	141
1946	140
1947	119
1948	186
1949	157
1950	145
1951	164
1954	124
1956	138
1957	156
1958	142
1959	118
1960	147
1961	148
1962	153
1963	157
1964	170
1965	148
1966	127
1967	137
1968	146
1969	152
1970	160
1971	110
1972	149
1973	170
1975	143
1976	150
1978	172
1979	145
1981	143
1982	146
1983	128
1984	139
1985	172
1986	166
1987	178
1988	162
1989	138
1990	159
1991	134
1992	146
1993	141
1994	163
1995	142
1996	158
1998	198
1999	153
2000	168
2001	164
2002	158
2003	158
2004	139
2005	155
2006	146
2007	153
2008	168
2009	176
2010	146
2011	149
2012	162
2013	153
2014	139
2015	176
2016	182
2017	181
2018	173
2019	166
2020	146
2021	181
2022	153
2023	167
2024	175
2025	196

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	17.6 °C
1894	18.7 °C
1895	18.5 °C
1896	18.1 °C
1897	18.2 °C
1898	18.1 °C
1899	17.6 °C
1901	19.3 °C
1902	17.4 °C
1903	17.0 °C
1904	16.5 °C
1906	17.9 °C
1907	15.5 °C
1908	17.7 °C
1909	16.5 °C
1910	17.0 °C
1911	18.7 °C
1912	16.6 °C
1913	18.3 °C
1914	18.3 °C
1915	16.4 °C
1916	16.6 °C
1917	16.4 °C
1918	17.6 °C
1919	18.6 °C
1920	17.4 °C
1921	19.7 °C
1922	19.0 °C
1923	18.0 °C
1924	16.7 °C
1926	18.6 °C
1927	17.6 °C
1928	17.1 °C
1929	17.6 °C
1930	19.2 °C
1931	19.6 °C
1932	18.9 °C
1933	19.7 °C
1934	20.2 °C
1935	17.9 °C
1936	20.7 °C
1937	19.3 °C
1938	19.1 °C
1939	19.3 °C
1940	18.7 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	18.6 °C
1943	18.2 °C
1944	18.3 °C
1945	17.1 °C
1946	18.6 °C
1947	18.5 °C
1948	19.6 °C
1949	19.1 °C
1950	16.8 °C
1951	16.6 °C
1953	17.8 °C
1954	18.8 °C
1956	18.1 °C
1957	17.5 °C
1958	17.4 °C
1959	18.3 °C
1960	18.0 °C
1961	16.8 °C
1963	18.9 °C
1964	18.4 °C
1965	17.5 °C
1966	16.9 °C
1967	17.2 °C
1968	18.0 °C
1969	18.3 °C
1970	19.0 °C
1971	18.0 °C
1972	17.9 °C
1973	17.9 °C
1975	18.5 °C
1976	19.6 °C
1978	19.1 °C
1979	17.5 °C
1981	18.2 °C
1982	17.2 °C
1983	17.7 °C
1984	17.9 °C
1985	18.1 °C
1986	18.4 °C
1987	19.2 °C
1988	19.6 °C
1989	18.1 °C
1990	18.1 °C
1991	19.0 °C
1992	16.6 °C
1993	16.7 °C
1994	18.0 °C
1995	17.6 °C
1996	17.4 °C
1997	17.1 °C
1998	19.0 °C
1999	18.0 °C
2000	18.6 °C
2001	18.4 °C
2002	18.7 °C
2003	17.8 °C
2004	17.6 °C
2005	19.0 °C
2006	18.6 °C
2007	18.9 °C
2008	17.3 °C
2009	16.8 °C
2010	18.7 °C
2011	17.8 °C
2012	19.6 °C
2013	17.7 °C
2014	17.3 °C
2015	18.1 °C
2016	18.7 °C
2017	18.7 °C
2018	18.5 °C
2019	18.5 °C
2020	18.6 °C
2021	19.2 °C
2022	18.4 °C
2023	19.1 °C
2024	19.1 °C
2025	18.9 °C
2026	19.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Carroll'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 Carroll (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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