When to plant in Fayette, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 20

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 5

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 5

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

152

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Fayette · 5.1 km away · station 349 m, town 307 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 14
Sweet pepper	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 19
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 4 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 18
Peas	—	Apr 8 – May 6	Jun 2
Bush beans	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 2
Carrot	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 18
Beet	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 8
Potato	—	Apr 19 – May 10	Jun 28
Kale	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 28
Broccoli	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 7
Cucumber	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 9
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 4
Winter squash	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Aug 8
Sweet corn	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 12
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jul 7
Garlic	—	Sep 21 – Oct 19 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 8 – May 6	May 16
Basil	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 16

Plan all 65 crops for Fayette

Fayette'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 7
1894	May 28
1895	May 21
1896	Apr 22
1897	May 31
1898	May 12
1899	Apr 22
1900	May 5
1901	Jun 8
1902	May 10
1904	May 15
1905	May 26
1906	May 28
1907	May 27
1908	May 9
1909	May 11
1910	May 15
1911	May 5
1912	May 14
1913	May 10
1914	May 15
1915	Apr 13
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 13
1919	May 2
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 30
1923	May 17
1924	May 20
1925	May 26
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 24
1929	May 19
1931	May 23
1932	May 28
1933	Apr 27
1934	May 25
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 26
1937	Apr 22
1938	May 12
1939	May 12
1940	May 4
1941	Apr 25
1942	May 16
1943	May 14
1944	May 6
1945	Jun 4
1946	Jun 3
1948	May 7
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 2
1951	Apr 26
1952	May 29
1953	May 14
1954	May 20
1955	May 8
1956	May 16
1957	May 6
1958	May 9
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 15
1965	May 29
1966	May 11
1967	May 22
1968	May 10
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 27
1972	May 10
1973	May 17
1974	May 13
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 8
1977	May 10
1978	May 10
1979	May 12
1980	May 14
1981	May 20
1982	Apr 28
1983	May 15
1984	May 29
1985	Apr 15
1986	May 3
1987	May 5
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 7
1990	May 11
1991	May 7
1992	May 27
1993	May 20
1994	May 4
1995	Apr 26
1996	May 14
1997	May 21
1998	Apr 18
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 22
2001	Apr 25
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 24
2004	May 15
2005	May 5
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 30
2009	May 17
2010	May 9
2011	May 5
2012	Apr 21
2013	May 13
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 26
2016	May 15
2017	May 3
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 13
2021	May 11
2022	May 4
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 24
2025	Apr 17
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	112
1895	131
1896	150
1897	111
1898	121
1899	156
1900	134
1901	101
1902	124
1905	137
1907	120
1909	138
1910	143
1911	155
1912	134
1913	134
1914	162
1915	177
1916	137
1917	110
1918	130
1919	161
1920	138
1921	140
1922	161
1923	119
1924	132
1925	133
1926	144
1927	172
1929	121
1931	146
1932	123
1933	152
1934	154
1936	158
1937	146
1938	161
1939	140
1940	144
1941	156
1942	130
1944	155
1945	116
1946	117
1948	147
1949	129
1950	144
1951	154
1952	116
1953	121
1954	124
1955	125
1956	126
1957	143
1958	144
1959	171
1960	147
1961	124
1962	152
1963	141
1964	165
1965	127
1966	127
1967	129
1968	146
1969	154
1970	154
1971	132
1972	134
1973	123
1974	113
1975	143
1976	138
1977	145
1978	150
1979	132
1980	134
1981	130
1982	145
1983	129
1984	109
1985	164
1986	155
1987	150
1988	156
1989	138
1990	141
1991	134
1992	124
1993	132
1994	158
1995	148
1996	141
1997	145
1998	177
1999	148
2000	156
2001	152
2002	125
2003	157
2004	136
2005	155
2006	158
2007	152
2008	168
2009	145
2010	146
2011	168
2012	154
2013	159
2014	168
2015	173
2016	150
2017	176
2019	165
2020	141
2021	158
2022	146
2023	165
2024	165
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	16.9 °C
1894	18.8 °C
1895	18.3 °C
1896	17.7 °C
1897	17.1 °C
1898	16.8 °C
1899	17.3 °C
1900	18.4 °C
1901	18.5 °C
1902	16.0 °C
1905	16.5 °C
1907	14.5 °C
1909	16.3 °C
1910	17.4 °C
1911	17.8 °C
1912	16.6 °C
1913	17.6 °C
1914	17.7 °C
1915	15.9 °C
1916	16.9 °C
1917	16.1 °C
1918	16.7 °C
1919	17.7 °C
1920	16.5 °C
1921	19.2 °C
1922	17.9 °C
1923	17.1 °C
1924	15.1 °C
1925	17.9 °C
1926	17.1 °C
1927	16.8 °C
1928	16.6 °C
1929	17.3 °C
1930	18.6 °C
1931	18.8 °C
1932	17.8 °C
1933	18.7 °C
1934	19.3 °C
1935	17.3 °C
1936	18.5 °C
1937	17.6 °C
1938	17.4 °C
1939	17.6 °C
1940	16.9 °C
1941	18.9 °C
1942	17.4 °C
1944	17.8 °C
1945	16.1 °C
1946	17.3 °C
1948	17.8 °C
1949	17.6 °C
1950	15.6 °C
1951	15.9 °C
1952	17.2 °C
1953	16.6 °C
1954	17.2 °C
1955	18.5 °C
1956	16.6 °C
1957	16.8 °C
1958	16.2 °C
1959	17.9 °C
1960	17.0 °C
1961	16.0 °C
1962	16.5 °C
1963	17.6 °C
1964	17.9 °C
1965	16.6 °C
1966	16.2 °C
1967	16.2 °C
1968	17.2 °C
1969	17.3 °C
1970	17.6 °C
1971	16.9 °C
1972	16.9 °C
1973	17.0 °C
1974	16.4 °C
1975	17.1 °C
1976	17.3 °C
1977	18.8 °C
1978	17.9 °C
1979	16.9 °C
1980	18.0 °C
1981	17.2 °C
1982	16.6 °C
1983	17.4 °C
1984	17.2 °C
1985	17.7 °C
1986	18.0 °C
1987	19.0 °C
1988	19.2 °C
1989	17.1 °C
1990	17.5 °C
1991	17.0 °C
1992	14.4 °C
1993	14.8 °C
1994	15.8 °C
1995	16.1 °C
1996	14.9 °C
1997	15.1 °C
1998	17.2 °C
1999	16.8 °C
2000	16.4 °C
2001	16.7 °C
2002	16.7 °C
2003	16.1 °C
2004	15.9 °C
2005	18.0 °C
2006	17.3 °C
2007	17.6 °C
2008	16.4 °C
2009	16.0 °C
2010	18.1 °C
2011	17.0 °C
2012	18.4 °C
2013	16.8 °C
2014	16.6 °C
2015	17.5 °C
2016	17.8 °C
2017	17.4 °C
2019	16.4 °C
2020	16.3 °C
2021	17.3 °C
2022	16.2 °C
2023	17.4 °C
2024	17.2 °C
2025	17.0 °C
2026	17.6 °C

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

Nearby towns

West Union Oelwein Sumner Strawberry Point Fairbank Elkader