When to plant in Iowa Falls, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 13

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 7

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

158

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Iowa Falls · 0.4 km away · station 322 m, town 337 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 18 – Apr 1	May 13 – May 27	Jul 7
Sweet pepper	Mar 4 – Mar 18	May 13 – May 27	Jul 12
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 28 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 14
Peas	—	Apr 4 – May 2	May 29
Bush beans	—	May 6 – May 27	Jun 25
Carrot	—	Apr 14 – May 26	Jun 13
Beet	—	Apr 14 – May 26	Jun 3
Potato	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 23
Kale	Feb 28 – Mar 14	Apr 11 – Apr 25	May 24
Broccoli	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jun 3
Cucumber	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Jul 2
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Jun 27
Winter squash	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Aug 1
Sweet corn	—	May 6 – May 27	Jul 5
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jul 3
Garlic	—	Sep 23 – Oct 21 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 4 – May 2	May 12
Basil	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 13 – May 27	Jul 9

Plan all 65 crops for Iowa Falls

Iowa Falls'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 4
1894	May 19
1895	May 21
1896	Apr 22
1897	May 31
1898	Apr 29
1899	May 13
1900	May 5
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 24
1903	May 3
1904	May 15
1905	Apr 30
1906	May 28
1907	May 20
1908	May 9
1909	May 11
1910	May 14
1911	May 5
1912	May 14
1913	Apr 29
1914	May 15
1915	May 18
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 14
1919	May 2
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 22
1925	May 25
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 30
1928	May 12
1929	May 19
1930	May 17
1931	May 22
1932	Apr 28
1933	May 4
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 5
1936	Apr 26
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 22
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	May 10
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	May 11
1952	Apr 24
1953	May 13
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	May 4
1958	May 5
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 8
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 17
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 15
1965	May 29
1966	May 14
1967	May 6
1968	May 12
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 3
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 7
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 6
1979	May 12
1980	May 9
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 8
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 6
1989	May 6
1990	May 1
1991	May 7
1992	May 7
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 26
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 12
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 22
2001	Apr 19
2002	May 4
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 15
2005	May 5
2006	May 7
2007	Apr 17
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 15
2010	May 10
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 21
2013	May 12
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 27
2016	May 15
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 12
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 27
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 17
2026	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	143
1894	121
1895	131
1896	149
1897	111
1898	159
1899	135
1900	134
1901	149
1902	140
1903	137
1904	122
1905	164
1906	125
1907	127
1908	141
1909	153
1910	144
1911	155
1912	134
1913	145
1914	162
1915	103
1916	137
1917	110
1918	128
1919	161
1920	154
1921	140
1922	162
1923	127
1924	160
1925	134
1926	144
1927	166
1928	135
1929	121
1930	133
1931	147
1932	153
1933	153
1934	152
1935	149
1936	158
1937	167
1938	183
1939	160
1940	164
1941	157
1942	156
1943	167
1944	155
1945	141
1946	139
1947	119
1949	152
1950	145
1951	139
1952	161
1953	122
1955	190
1956	142
1957	158
1958	145
1959	171
1960	151
1961	124
1962	155
1963	158
1964	165
1965	135
1966	124
1967	144
1968	144
1969	154
1970	154
1971	139
1972	156
1973	179
1974	138
1975	155
1976	125
1977	177
1978	154
1979	145
1982	176
1983	136
1986	166
1987	179
1989	139
1990	161
1991	135
1992	144
1993	162
1994	160
1995	148
1997	150
1998	192
1999	155
2000	166
2001	169
2002	155
2003	159
2004	139
2005	155
2006	157
2007	150
2008	168
2010	145
2011	168
2012	154
2013	159
2014	173
2015	172
2016	150
2017	180
2018	173
2019	166
2020	142
2021	162
2022	163
2023	179
2024	175
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	16.6 °C
1894	17.8 °C
1895	17.7 °C
1896	16.6 °C
1897	17.5 °C
1898	17.6 °C
1899	17.7 °C
1900	18.6 °C
1901	18.4 °C
1902	16.2 °C
1903	16.4 °C
1904	15.8 °C
1905	16.9 °C
1906	17.5 °C
1907	15.4 °C
1908	17.2 °C
1909	16.3 °C
1910	17.0 °C
1911	17.5 °C
1912	16.6 °C
1913	17.6 °C
1914	17.7 °C
1915	15.7 °C
1916	16.8 °C
1917	15.3 °C
1918	16.6 °C
1919	18.1 °C
1920	16.6 °C
1921	19.7 °C
1922	18.1 °C
1923	17.6 °C
1924	15.8 °C
1925	18.2 °C
1926	17.2 °C
1927	17.1 °C
1928	16.7 °C
1929	17.2 °C
1930	18.8 °C
1931	19.3 °C
1932	17.8 °C
1933	18.8 °C
1934	19.4 °C
1935	17.1 °C
1936	19.6 °C
1937	18.4 °C
1938	18.2 °C
1939	18.8 °C
1940	17.3 °C
1941	19.0 °C
1942	17.6 °C
1943	17.0 °C
1944	17.5 °C
1945	16.2 °C
1946	17.0 °C
1947	17.4 °C
1948	18.3 °C
1949	18.1 °C
1950	15.8 °C
1951	16.3 °C
1952	17.9 °C
1953	17.4 °C
1954	18.5 °C
1955	19.8 °C
1956	18.0 °C
1957	17.8 °C
1958	17.3 °C
1959	18.5 °C
1960	17.6 °C
1961	16.4 °C
1962	17.6 °C
1963	17.8 °C
1964	18.2 °C
1965	17.0 °C
1966	16.4 °C
1967	16.6 °C
1968	17.4 °C
1969	17.5 °C
1970	18.3 °C
1971	18.0 °C
1972	17.7 °C
1973	18.0 °C
1974	17.5 °C
1975	17.6 °C
1976	17.8 °C
1977	19.4 °C
1978	18.6 °C
1982	17.6 °C
1983	18.7 °C
1986	19.0 °C
1987	20.0 °C
1989	18.2 °C
1990	18.2 °C
1991	18.9 °C
1992	16.4 °C
1993	16.0 °C
1994	17.4 °C
1995	17.1 °C
1997	16.5 °C
1998	18.3 °C
1999	17.4 °C
2000	17.4 °C
2001	17.5 °C
2002	17.6 °C
2003	17.4 °C
2004	16.9 °C
2005	18.3 °C
2006	18.1 °C
2007	18.2 °C
2008	16.7 °C
2009	16.5 °C
2010	18.1 °C
2011	17.3 °C
2012	18.4 °C
2013	16.9 °C
2014	16.5 °C
2015	17.6 °C
2016	18.0 °C
2017	17.8 °C
2018	17.9 °C
2019	17.9 °C
2020	17.8 °C
2021	18.6 °C
2022	17.5 °C
2023	18.8 °C
2024	18.5 °C
2025	18.2 °C
2026	19.0 °C

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

Nearby towns

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