When to plant in New Sharon, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 6

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 3

1 year in 10 by Sep 20

Frost-free days

150

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Grinnell 3 Sw · 29.0 km away · station 279 m, town 266 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my New Sharon plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 16 – May 30	Jul 10
Sweet pepper	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 16 – May 30	Jul 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 4 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 18
Peas	—	Apr 3 – May 1	May 28
Bush beans	—	May 9 – May 30	Jun 28
Carrot	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 14
Beet	—	Apr 13 – May 25	Jun 2
Potato	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 24
Kale	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 23
Broccoli	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 7
Cucumber	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jul 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jun 30
Winter squash	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Aug 4
Sweet corn	—	May 9 – May 30	Jul 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jul 7
Garlic	—	Sep 19 – Oct 17 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 3 – May 1	May 11
Basil	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 16 – May 30	Jul 12

Plan all 65 crops for New Sharon

New Sharon'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
1898	Apr 26
1905	Apr 18
1906	May 9
1907	May 20
1908	May 2
1909	May 4
1910	Apr 24
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 19
1913	Apr 27
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 17
1916	Apr 9
1917	May 5
1918	May 1
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 28
1925	May 6
1926	Apr 28
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 19
1930	May 17
1931	May 21
1932	Apr 27
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	May 11
1952	Apr 16
1953	May 13
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	May 16
1957	Apr 14
1958	May 5
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 8
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 9
1965	May 29
1966	May 14
1967	May 9
1969	May 13
1970	May 3
1971	May 27
1972	May 9
1973	May 17
1974	Apr 25
1975	May 1
1976	May 9
1977	Apr 30
1978	May 6
1979	May 25
1980	May 14
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 23
1983	Apr 26
1984	Apr 25
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 28
1988	Apr 30
1989	May 8
1990	May 11
1991	May 8
1992	May 27
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 9
1995	May 5
1996	May 2
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 18
1999	May 10
2000	May 14
2001	Apr 25
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 16
2005	May 5
2006	May 7
2007	Apr 17
2008	May 5
2009	Apr 22
2010	May 10
2011	May 6
2012	Apr 22
2013	May 14
2014	May 18
2015	Apr 28
2016	May 16
2017	May 5
2018	Apr 29
2019	May 13
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 16
2026	May 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1905	176
1906	144
1907	127
1908	148
1909	160
1910	180
1911	170
1912	159
1913	147
1914	187
1915	140
1916	172
1917	153
1918	142
1922	174
1923	162
1924	154
1925	155
1926	149
1927	191
1928	149
1930	152
1932	160
1949	157
1950	154
1951	139
1953	166
1954	162
1955	199
1956	143
1957	178
1958	148
1959	169
1960	163
1961	148
1962	186
1963	159
1964	171
1965	135
1966	143
1967	142
1969	153
1970	159
1971	115
1972	143
1973	123
1974	149
1975	143
1976	123
1977	158
1978	154
1979	119
1980	134
1981	129
1982	151
1983	148
1984	143
1985	164
1986	165
1987	157
1988	155
1989	137
1990	152
1991	133
1992	124
1993	170
1994	153
1995	139
1996	135
1997	151
1998	172
1999	133
2000	144
2001	153
2002	125
2003	158
2004	138
2005	147
2006	135
2007	150
2008	162
2009	170
2010	145
2011	148
2012	153
2013	151
2014	139
2015	171
2016	149
2017	163
2018	168
2023	159
2024	167
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1905	18.2 °C
1906	18.6 °C
1907	17.1 °C
1908	18.4 °C
1909	18.1 °C
1910	19.4 °C
1911	19.7 °C
1912	18.7 °C
1913	19.8 °C
1914	19.5 °C
1915	17.8 °C
1916	17.9 °C
1917	17.5 °C
1918	18.7 °C
1922	19.8 °C
1923	19.1 °C
1924	17.4 °C
1925	20.0 °C
1926	19.2 °C
1927	19.2 °C
1928	17.0 °C
1930	19.3 °C
1932	19.1 °C
1948	19.3 °C
1949	18.7 °C
1950	16.9 °C
1951	17.0 °C
1952	18.9 °C
1953	18.5 °C
1954	19.3 °C
1955	20.5 °C
1956	19.0 °C
1957	18.7 °C
1958	18.4 °C
1959	19.2 °C
1960	18.6 °C
1961	17.5 °C
1962	18.4 °C
1963	19.2 °C
1964	18.8 °C
1965	16.9 °C
1966	16.2 °C
1967	15.6 °C
1969	17.1 °C
1970	17.7 °C
1971	17.0 °C
1972	16.9 °C
1973	16.9 °C
1974	16.4 °C
1975	16.9 °C
1976	16.8 °C
1977	18.8 °C
1978	17.6 °C
1979	16.6 °C
1980	17.8 °C
1981	17.4 °C
1982	16.6 °C
1983	17.4 °C
1984	16.7 °C
1985	17.4 °C
1986	17.7 °C
1987	18.9 °C
1988	19.2 °C
1989	16.8 °C
1990	17.2 °C
1991	18.4 °C
1992	15.6 °C
1993	16.2 °C
1994	16.8 °C
1995	17.2 °C
1996	16.1 °C
1997	16.2 °C
1998	18.1 °C
1999	17.4 °C
2000	17.6 °C
2001	17.6 °C
2002	17.6 °C
2003	17.0 °C
2004	16.9 °C
2005	18.3 °C
2006	18.1 °C
2007	18.2 °C
2008	16.7 °C
2009	16.4 °C
2010	18.7 °C
2011	17.8 °C
2012	18.4 °C
2013	17.1 °C
2014	16.6 °C
2015	17.7 °C
2016	18.1 °C
2017	17.4 °C
2018	18.1 °C
2019	18.1 °C
2023	18.6 °C
2024	18.7 °C
2025	18.9 °C
2026	19.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1898, New Sharon's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Grinnell 3 Sw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Montezuma Oskaloosa Pella Grinnell Brooklyn Eddyville