When to plant in Muscatine, IA

Planting dates worked out from Muscatine'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 19

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 15

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

176

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Muscatine · 3.1 km away · station 167 m, town 177 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Muscatine 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 15 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 1
Peas	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	May 16
Bush beans	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 16
Carrot	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 30
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
Potato	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 9
Kale	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 11
Broccoli	Feb 8 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 12	May 21
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 22 – Apr 12	Jun 20
Garlic	—	Oct 1 – Oct 29 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	Apr 29
Basil	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 4 – May 18	Jun 30

Plan all 65 crops for Muscatine

Muscatine'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
1936	Apr 23
1937	May 6
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 22
1940	May 4
1941	Apr 25
1942	May 16
1943	May 1
1944	May 5
1945	May 9
1946	Apr 16
1948	Apr 9
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 18
1961	May 1
1962	Apr 16
1963	Apr 10
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 19
1966	May 10
1967	May 3
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 19
1970	Apr 10
1971	Apr 24
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 13
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 6
1978	May 2
1979	Apr 10
1980	May 9
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	May 8
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 8
1988	Apr 24
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 1
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 25
1996	May 1
1997	Apr 18
1998	Mar 24
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 11
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 15
2010	Apr 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 8
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 23
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 17
2026	May 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1936	161
1937	143
1938	180
1939	174
1940	144
1941	185
1942	130
1943	165
1944	159
1945	152
1946	167
1948	190
1949	162
1950	155
1951	167
1952	169
1953	162
1954	167
1955	194
1956	191
1957	187
1958	154
1959	172
1960	184
1961	149
1962	190
1963	201
1964	179
1965	187
1966	167
1967	148
1968	161
1969	177
1970	188
1971	193
1972	157
1973	203
1974	138
1975	171
1976	143
1977	192
1978	174
1979	179
1980	148
1982	177
1983	154
1984	140
1985	177
1986	165
1987	177
1988	161
1989	139
1990	175
1991	171
1992	163
1993	170
1994	205
1995	172
1996	170
1997	179
1998	211
1999	204
2000	177
2001	170
2002	192
2003	173
2004	151
2005	174
2006	168
2007	195
2008	181
2009	177
2010	202
2011	169
2012	164
2013	184
2014	183
2015	175
2016	182
2017	203
2018	177
2019	168
2020	159
2021	191
2023	185
2024	176
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1936	20.3 °C
1937	19.2 °C
1938	19.4 °C
1939	19.3 °C
1940	18.6 °C
1941	20.2 °C
1942	19.1 °C
1943	18.5 °C
1944	19.2 °C
1945	17.7 °C
1946	18.4 °C
1948	19.9 °C
1949	19.8 °C
1950	17.9 °C
1951	18.4 °C
1952	19.9 °C
1953	19.7 °C
1954	20.1 °C
1955	21.0 °C
1956	19.7 °C
1957	19.6 °C
1958	18.8 °C
1959	20.0 °C
1960	19.4 °C
1961	18.4 °C
1962	19.3 °C
1963	19.7 °C
1964	19.9 °C
1965	19.1 °C
1966	18.5 °C
1967	17.9 °C
1968	19.3 °C
1969	19.1 °C
1970	19.7 °C
1971	19.5 °C
1972	19.0 °C
1973	19.0 °C
1974	18.6 °C
1975	19.0 °C
1976	18.9 °C
1977	20.6 °C
1978	19.6 °C
1979	18.9 °C
1980	19.8 °C
1981	19.2 °C
1982	18.6 °C
1983	19.4 °C
1984	18.9 °C
1985	19.5 °C
1987	21.3 °C
1988	21.2 °C
1989	18.9 °C
1990	19.4 °C
1991	21.1 °C
1992	18.2 °C
1993	18.7 °C
1994	19.4 °C
1995	19.6 °C
1996	18.6 °C
1997	18.6 °C
1998	20.6 °C
1999	20.0 °C
2000	19.8 °C
2001	20.2 °C
2002	20.1 °C
2003	19.5 °C
2004	19.4 °C
2005	20.8 °C
2006	20.1 °C
2007	20.4 °C
2008	19.1 °C
2009	18.5 °C
2010	20.9 °C
2011	20.0 °C
2012	20.9 °C
2013	19.2 °C
2014	18.5 °C
2015	19.4 °C
2016	19.8 °C
2017	19.2 °C
2018	19.6 °C
2019	19.5 °C
2020	18.7 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2023	19.6 °C
2024	19.7 °C
2025	19.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1936, Muscatine'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 Muscatine (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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