When to plant in De Witt, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 4

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 13

1 year in 10 by Sep 28

Frost-free days

174

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Clinton #1 · 22.9 km away · station 181 m, town 216 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my De Witt plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 9 – Mar 23	May 4 – May 18	Jun 28
Sweet pepper	Feb 23 – Mar 9	May 4 – May 18	Jul 3
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 18 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 4
Peas	—	Mar 25 – Apr 22	May 19
Bush beans	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 16
Carrot	—	Apr 2 – May 14	Jun 1
Beet	—	Apr 2 – May 14	May 22
Potato	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jun 11
Kale	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 14
Broccoli	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 15	May 24
Cucumber	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jun 23
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jun 18
Winter squash	Apr 6 – Apr 13	May 4 – May 18	Jul 23
Sweet corn	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 26
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 25 – Apr 15	Jun 23
Garlic	—	Sep 29 – Oct 27 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 25 – Apr 22	May 2
Basil	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 4 – May 18	Jun 30

Plan all 65 crops for De Witt

De Witt'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 6
1894	Apr 13
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 10
1897	Apr 20
1898	Apr 21
1899	Apr 19
1900	May 5
1901	May 26
1902	Apr 24
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 9
1907	May 16
1908	May 3
1909	May 3
1911	May 4
1913	Apr 29
1915	Apr 13
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 15
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 20
1923	Apr 17
1924	Apr 12
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 26
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 12
1929	May 5
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 30
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 22
1940	Apr 21
1941	Apr 2
1942	Apr 19
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 17
1945	May 9
1946	Apr 27
1947	Apr 21
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 15
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 1
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 15
1965	Apr 27
1966	May 11
1967	May 3
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 29
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 4
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 21
1976	May 7
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 10
1980	May 9
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 21
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 24
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 24
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 22
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 10
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 5
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 11
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 15
2010	Apr 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 12
2017	May 3
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 25
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 16
2026	Apr 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	142
1894	175
1895	138
1896	162
1897	179
1898	175
1899	160
1900	164
1901	129
1902	141
1903	139
1904	175
1905	172
1906	153
1907	149
1908	148
1909	149
1911	170
1913	145
1915	177
1916	149
1917	135
1919	173
1920	137
1921	144
1922	179
1923	185
1924	192
1925	137
1926	152
1927	172
1928	134
1929	135
1930	154
1931	170
1932	156
1933	168
1934	183
1935	152
1936	161
1937	179
1938	184
1939	161
1940	177
1941	208
1942	158
1943	182
1944	177
1945	152
1946	198
1947	198
1948	182
1949	162
1950	155
1951	190
1952	169
1953	183
1954	164
1955	194
1956	162
1957	186
1958	154
1959	148
1960	171
1961	148
1962	152
1963	158
1964	173
1965	179
1966	147
1967	159
1968	161
1969	167
1970	154
1971	161
1972	157
1973	182
1974	151
1975	157
1976	153
1977	166
1978	159
1979	185
1980	148
1981	180
1982	177
1983	135
1984	154
1985	170
1986	174
1987	176
1988	163
1989	139
1990	175
1991	150
1992	145
1993	165
1994	185
1995	169
1996	183
1997	151
1998	191
1999	177
2000	177
2001	170
2002	189
2003	170
2004	154
2005	171
2006	168
2007	194
2008	180
2009	177
2010	195
2011	169
2012	164
2014	194
2015	175
2016	210
2017	174
2018	165
2019	179
2020	159
2021	180
2023	186
2024	177
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	18.2 °C
1894	19.5 °C
1895	19.8 °C
1896	19.8 °C
1897	19.0 °C
1898	18.8 °C
1899	18.8 °C
1900	19.6 °C
1901	19.3 °C
1902	17.8 °C
1903	18.0 °C
1904	17.3 °C
1905	18.6 °C
1906	19.2 °C
1907	16.8 °C
1908	18.4 °C
1909	17.8 °C
1910	18.5 °C
1911	19.1 °C
1913	19.8 °C
1915	17.7 °C
1916	18.5 °C
1917	16.7 °C
1918	18.2 °C
1920	18.6 °C
1921	21.2 °C
1922	20.0 °C
1923	19.2 °C
1924	17.3 °C
1925	19.3 °C
1926	18.0 °C
1927	17.8 °C
1928	17.8 °C
1929	18.4 °C
1930	19.6 °C
1931	19.8 °C
1932	19.0 °C
1933	19.5 °C
1934	20.0 °C
1935	18.4 °C
1936	20.4 °C
1937	18.9 °C
1938	19.4 °C
1939	19.6 °C
1940	18.9 °C
1941	20.4 °C
1942	19.3 °C
1943	19.1 °C
1944	19.5 °C
1945	18.0 °C
1946	18.8 °C
1947	18.9 °C
1948	19.3 °C
1949	19.1 °C
1950	17.5 °C
1951	17.6 °C
1952	19.3 °C
1953	18.9 °C
1954	19.3 °C
1955	20.5 °C
1956	18.9 °C
1957	18.8 °C
1958	18.0 °C
1959	19.2 °C
1960	18.8 °C
1961	17.6 °C
1962	17.9 °C
1963	18.6 °C
1964	18.7 °C
1965	18.6 °C
1966	17.8 °C
1967	17.4 °C
1968	18.6 °C
1969	18.6 °C
1970	19.4 °C
1971	19.0 °C
1972	18.7 °C
1973	18.8 °C
1974	18.3 °C
1975	18.4 °C
1976	18.8 °C
1977	20.4 °C
1978	19.8 °C
1979	18.7 °C
1980	19.6 °C
1981	19.1 °C
1982	18.3 °C
1983	19.0 °C
1984	18.4 °C
1985	19.2 °C
1986	19.5 °C
1987	20.4 °C
1988	20.5 °C
1989	18.2 °C
1990	18.8 °C
1991	20.2 °C
1992	17.3 °C
1993	18.0 °C
1994	18.9 °C
1995	19.2 °C
1996	18.0 °C
1997	17.9 °C
1998	19.8 °C
1999	19.3 °C
2000	19.0 °C
2001	19.4 °C
2002	19.3 °C
2003	18.6 °C
2004	18.6 °C
2005	20.1 °C
2006	19.3 °C
2007	19.7 °C
2008	18.5 °C
2009	17.9 °C
2010	20.4 °C
2011	19.3 °C
2012	20.3 °C
2013	19.3 °C
2014	18.6 °C
2015	19.5 °C
2016	19.9 °C
2017	19.0 °C
2018	18.9 °C
2019	18.9 °C
2020	19.3 °C
2021	20.2 °C
2023	19.9 °C
2024	20.2 °C
2025	20.2 °C
2026	20.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, De Witt's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Clinton #1 (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Park View Eldridge Camanche Preston Clinton Maquoketa