When to plant in Red Oak, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 12

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 24

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 9

1 year in 10 by Sep 23

Frost-free days

167

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Red Oak · 1.5 km away · station 317 m, town 320 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Red Oak plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 17 – Mar 31	May 12 – May 26	Jul 6
Sweet pepper	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 12 – May 26	Jul 11
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 20 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 6
Peas	—	Mar 23 – Apr 20	May 17
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 3 – May 15	Jun 2
Beet	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 21
Potato	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 12
Kale	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 12
Broccoli	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 17	May 26
Cucumber	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 1
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jun 26
Winter squash	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 31
Sweet corn	—	May 5 – May 26	Jul 4
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 27 – Apr 17	Jun 25
Garlic	—	Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 23 – Apr 20	Apr 30
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for Red Oak

Red Oak'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
1897	May 3
1898	Apr 26
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 13
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 13
1903	Apr 30
1904	Apr 19
1905	Apr 19
1939	May 13
1940	May 16
1941	Apr 1
1942	May 4
1943	Apr 23
1944	May 6
1945	May 5
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 7
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	May 15
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 17
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 9
1967	May 3
1968	May 5
1969	Apr 29
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 15
1974	Apr 17
1975	May 1
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 26
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 28
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 15
1984	May 8
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 12
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 30
1991	Apr 10
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 21
1994	Apr 30
1995	May 2
1996	Apr 23
1997	May 13
1998	Apr 19
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 25
2002	Apr 22
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 4
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 26
2009	Apr 15
2010	Apr 10
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 12
2013	May 12
2014	May 16
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 12
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 12
2021	May 5
2022	Apr 27
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 8
2026	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	171
1899	165
1900	177
1901	196
1902	197
1903	178
1904	186
1905	184
1939	139
1941	197
1943	149
1944	154
1945	137
1946	152
1947	142
1948	178
1949	156
1950	154
1951	157
1952	169
1953	147
1954	161
1955	182
1956	159
1957	186
1958	154
1959	146
1960	171
1961	148
1962	189
1963	157
1964	171
1965	148
1966	144
1967	147
1968	151
1969	167
1970	160
1971	159
1972	157
1973	125
1974	157
1975	146
1976	150
1977	159
1978	153
1979	139
1980	130
1981	129
1982	176
1983	128
1984	140
1985	168
1986	166
1987	173
1988	158
1989	152
1990	162
1991	161
1992	145
1993	146
1994	161
1995	142
1996	181
1997	153
1998	199
1999	167
2000	175
2001	163
2002	167
2003	171
2004	150
2005	147
2006	185
2007	189
2008	172
2009	171
2010	191
2011	167
2012	163
2013	159
2014	147
2015	188
2016	182
2017	198
2018	177
2020	142
2021	169
2022	163
2023	165
2024	176
2025	196

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	19.9 °C
1898	19.3 °C
1899	20.0 °C
1900	20.9 °C
1901	20.5 °C
1902	18.4 °C
1903	18.5 °C
1904	18.1 °C
1905	20.5 °C
1939	20.2 °C
1941	20.5 °C
1943	19.1 °C
1944	18.8 °C
1945	17.6 °C
1946	18.6 °C
1947	19.0 °C
1948	19.9 °C
1949	18.9 °C
1950	17.0 °C
1951	18.1 °C
1952	19.9 °C
1953	19.8 °C
1954	20.9 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	20.3 °C
1957	19.6 °C
1958	19.4 °C
1959	19.8 °C
1960	19.5 °C
1961	18.3 °C
1962	19.8 °C
1963	20.5 °C
1964	20.1 °C
1965	19.5 °C
1966	18.6 °C
1967	18.6 °C
1968	19.8 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1970	20.3 °C
1971	19.9 °C
1972	20.0 °C
1973	19.9 °C
1974	19.9 °C
1975	19.3 °C
1976	19.7 °C
1977	20.5 °C
1978	19.4 °C
1979	19.0 °C
1980	20.4 °C
1981	19.5 °C
1983	20.1 °C
1984	19.1 °C
1985	19.7 °C
1986	20.1 °C
1987	20.3 °C
1988	21.5 °C
1989	19.7 °C
1990	19.8 °C
1991	20.6 °C
1996	18.8 °C
1997	18.2 °C
1998	19.8 °C
1999	18.6 °C
2000	19.4 °C
2001	19.8 °C
2002	19.9 °C
2003	19.1 °C
2004	18.8 °C
2005	20.3 °C
2006	19.8 °C
2007	20.1 °C
2008	18.5 °C
2009	18.1 °C
2011	19.3 °C
2012	20.7 °C
2013	18.8 °C
2014	18.7 °C
2015	19.4 °C
2016	20.0 °C
2017	19.6 °C
2018	19.7 °C
2019	19.8 °C
2020	18.8 °C
2021	19.6 °C
2022	19.2 °C
2023	20.0 °C
2024	19.7 °C
2025	19.4 °C
2026	20.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Red Oak'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 Red Oak (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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