When to plant in Perry, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 8

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 25

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 7

1 year in 10 by Sep 21

Frost-free days

163

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Perry · 0.3 km away · station 290 m, town 293 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 8 – May 22	Jul 2
Sweet pepper	Feb 27 – Mar 13	May 8 – May 22	Jul 7
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 24 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 10
Peas	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 25
Bush beans	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 20
Carrot	—	Apr 10 – May 22	Jun 9
Beet	—	Apr 10 – May 22	May 30
Potato	—	Apr 10 – May 1	Jun 19
Kale	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 20
Broccoli	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 21	May 30
Cucumber	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 27
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 22
Winter squash	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jul 27
Sweet corn	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 30
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 29
Garlic	—	Sep 23 – Oct 21 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 8
Basil	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 8 – May 22	Jul 4

Plan all 65 crops for Perry

Perry'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
1902	Apr 23
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 27
1905	Apr 18
1906	May 9
1907	May 20
1908	May 2
1909	May 10
1910	May 13
1912	Apr 27
1913	Apr 28
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 9
1916	May 2
1917	May 7
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1924	May 11
1925	May 25
1927	May 12
1928	May 12
1929	May 21
1930	Apr 25
1931	May 22
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	May 25
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 13
1939	Apr 19
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 4
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	May 9
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 16
1954	May 8
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 26
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 19
1966	May 10
1967	May 4
1969	Apr 29
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 28
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 20
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 26
1978	May 3
1979	May 12
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 8
1984	Apr 19
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 25
1989	May 7
1990	May 3
1991	Apr 25
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 19
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 15
1998	Apr 11
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 25
2002	Apr 10
2003	Apr 11
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2006	Apr 27
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 16
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2015	Apr 22
2016	Apr 13
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 23
2023	May 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1902	173
1903	166
1906	144
1907	127
1908	148
1909	153
1910	161
1912	151
1913	146
1914	187
1915	148
1916	149
1917	151
1918	141
1919	167
1920	154
1921	140
1922	171
1923	162
1925	134
1928	133
1929	119
1930	174
1931	147
1932	154
1933	152
1934	113
1936	181
1937	143
1938	159
1939	163
1940	145
1941	157
1942	138
1943	141
1944	156
1945	142
1946	140
1947	142
1948	185
1949	157
1950	154
1951	154
1952	171
1954	162
1955	157
1956	156
1957	186
1958	154
1959	169
1960	168
1961	148
1962	153
1963	157
1964	170
1965	175
1966	128
1967	146
1969	167
1971	159
1972	157
1973	184
1974	150
1975	157
1976	150
1977	163
1978	157
1979	145
1980	139
1981	143
1982	176
1983	137
1984	159
1985	168
1986	165
1987	179
1988	161
1989	138
1990	159
1991	146
1992	145
1993	170
1994	160
1995	155
1996	155
1997	155
1998	193
1999	155
2000	175
2001	163
2002	179
2003	170
2004	150
2005	154
2006	167
2007	153
2008	168
2009	176
2010	146
2015	191
2016	182
2018	176
2019	165
2020	144
2021	181
2023	158

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1903	17.8 °C
1904	17.4 °C
1905	18.4 °C
1906	19.1 °C
1907	16.8 °C
1908	18.6 °C
1909	17.9 °C
1910	18.3 °C
1912	18.2 °C
1913	19.6 °C
1914	19.7 °C
1915	17.6 °C
1916	18.6 °C
1917	17.4 °C
1918	18.6 °C
1919	18.6 °C
1920	17.7 °C
1921	20.2 °C
1922	19.1 °C
1923	18.5 °C
1924	17.1 °C
1925	19.6 °C
1927	17.8 °C
1928	16.9 °C
1930	19.3 °C
1931	19.6 °C
1932	18.6 °C
1933	19.4 °C
1934	20.5 °C
1936	20.7 °C
1937	19.3 °C
1938	19.4 °C
1939	20.0 °C
1940	18.6 °C
1941	19.7 °C
1942	19.0 °C
1943	18.2 °C
1944	18.8 °C
1945	17.3 °C
1946	17.8 °C
1947	18.3 °C
1948	19.4 °C
1949	18.5 °C
1950	16.4 °C
1951	17.0 °C
1952	18.6 °C
1953	18.7 °C
1954	19.3 °C
1955	20.3 °C
1956	18.9 °C
1957	18.3 °C
1958	18.1 °C
1959	18.8 °C
1960	18.4 °C
1961	17.2 °C
1962	18.4 °C
1963	19.0 °C
1964	18.4 °C
1965	18.5 °C
1966	17.6 °C
1967	17.0 °C
1969	18.0 °C
1970	18.7 °C
1971	18.2 °C
1972	17.9 °C
1973	18.0 °C
1974	17.3 °C
1975	17.8 °C
1976	18.0 °C
1977	19.7 °C
1978	18.3 °C
1979	17.4 °C
1980	18.6 °C
1981	18.4 °C
1982	17.1 °C
1983	18.1 °C
1984	17.3 °C
1985	18.0 °C
1986	18.7 °C
1987	19.3 °C
1988	19.5 °C
1989	17.5 °C
1990	18.4 °C
1991	19.3 °C
1992	16.6 °C
1993	16.9 °C
1994	18.0 °C
1995	17.7 °C
1996	16.7 °C
1997	17.4 °C
1998	19.2 °C
1999	18.1 °C
2000	18.6 °C
2001	18.7 °C
2002	18.7 °C
2003	18.0 °C
2004	17.8 °C
2005	19.1 °C
2006	18.7 °C
2007	19.0 °C
2008	17.5 °C
2009	17.3 °C
2010	19.3 °C
2011	18.4 °C
2015	18.7 °C
2016	19.5 °C
2019	18.8 °C
2020	18.5 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2023	19.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Perry's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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