When to plant in Pleasant Hill, IA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 30

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 18

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 18

1 year in 10 by Oct 4

Frost-free days

178

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Des Moines Intl Ap · 12.4 km away · station 286 m, town 267 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 5 – Mar 19	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 24
Sweet pepper	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 29
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 16 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 2
Peas	—	Mar 23 – Apr 20	May 17
Bush beans	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 12
Carrot	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 31
Beet	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 21
Potato	—	Apr 1 – Apr 22	Jun 10
Kale	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 12
Broccoli	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 13	May 22
Cucumber	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 19
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 14
Winter squash	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jul 19
Sweet corn	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 22
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 23 – Apr 13	Jun 21
Garlic	—	Oct 4 – Nov 1 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 23 – Apr 20	Apr 30
Basil	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 26

Plan all 65 crops for Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill'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
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 8
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 17
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 19
1966	May 10
1967	May 2
1968	Apr 26
1969	Apr 6
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 15
1975	Apr 12
1976	Apr 12
1977	Apr 6
1978	Apr 21
1979	Apr 28
1980	Apr 14
1981	Apr 15
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 24
1989	May 6
1990	Apr 30
1991	Apr 24
1992	Apr 22
1993	Apr 21
1994	Apr 29
1995	Apr 13
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 13
1998	Apr 17
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 9
2003	Apr 10
2004	Apr 13
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 8
2007	Apr 13
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 11
2010	Mar 29
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 11
2013	Apr 25
2014	Apr 15
2015	Apr 4
2016	Apr 12
2017	Apr 7
2018	Apr 19
2019	Apr 28
2020	Apr 17
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 26
2023	Apr 23
2024	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1946	152
1947	161
1948	185
1949	162
1950	155
1951	157
1952	171
1953	182
1954	162
1955	190
1956	190
1957	193
1958	154
1959	169
1960	171
1961	170
1962	189
1963	158
1964	181
1965	157
1966	159
1967	161
1968	160
1969	190
1970	160
1971	180
1972	157
1973	204
1974	168
1975	172
1976	176
1977	192
1978	187
1979	166
1980	180
1981	186
1982	182
1983	155
1984	177
1985	174
1986	173
1987	180
1988	162
1989	153
1990	170
1991	165
1992	177
1993	170
1994	178
1995	161
1996	182
1997	153
1998	200
1999	168
2000	176
2001	170
2002	186
2003	174
2004	171
2005	171
2006	186
2007	197
2008	180
2009	181
2010	212
2011	169
2012	177
2013	180
2014	198
2015	222
2016	213
2017	203
2018	178
2019	165
2020	184
2021	192
2022	170
2023	186
2024	177

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1946	18.6 °C
1947	19.0 °C
1948	20.0 °C
1949	19.3 °C
1950	17.3 °C
1951	17.6 °C
1952	19.2 °C
1953	19.0 °C
1954	19.8 °C
1955	21.0 °C
1956	19.4 °C
1957	19.0 °C
1958	18.5 °C
1959	19.4 °C
1960	19.1 °C
1961	17.8 °C
1962	19.4 °C
1963	19.1 °C
1964	18.7 °C
1965	18.7 °C
1966	18.0 °C
1967	17.6 °C
1968	18.4 °C
1969	19.2 °C
1970	19.8 °C
1971	19.4 °C
1972	18.6 °C
1973	19.4 °C
1974	18.9 °C
1975	19.5 °C
1976	19.7 °C
1977	21.4 °C
1978	19.9 °C
1979	18.8 °C
1980	20.2 °C
1981	19.8 °C
1982	18.7 °C
1983	20.1 °C
1984	19.0 °C
1985	19.5 °C
1986	19.6 °C
1987	20.4 °C
1988	21.0 °C
1989	18.8 °C
1990	18.9 °C
1991	20.2 °C
1992	17.8 °C
1993	17.8 °C
1994	18.9 °C
1995	18.9 °C
1996	17.8 °C
1997	18.2 °C
1998	19.9 °C
1999	19.1 °C
2000	19.5 °C
2001	19.8 °C
2002	19.6 °C
2003	19.5 °C
2004	18.9 °C
2005	20.6 °C
2006	20.2 °C
2007	20.1 °C
2008	18.7 °C
2009	19.1 °C
2010	21.0 °C
2011	20.2 °C
2012	21.8 °C
2013	20.0 °C
2014	19.5 °C
2015	20.5 °C
2016	21.0 °C
2017	20.8 °C
2018	20.4 °C
2019	19.9 °C
2020	19.6 °C
2021	20.5 °C
2022	19.9 °C
2023	20.6 °C
2024	21.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1946, Pleasant Hill'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 Des Moines Intl Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Des Moines Altoona Carlisle Bondurant Saylorville Windsor Heights