When to plant in Shenandoah, IA

Planting dates worked out from Shenandoah'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 22

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 13

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

172

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Shenandoah · 0.7 km away · station 295 m, town 299 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Shenandoah 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 18 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 4
Peas	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	May 15
Bush beans	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jun 16
Carrot	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 31
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
Potato	—	Apr 1 – Apr 22	Jun 10
Kale	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 10
Broccoli	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 15	May 24
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 25 – Apr 15	Jun 23
Garlic	—	Sep 29 – Oct 27 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	Apr 28
Basil	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 4 – May 18	Jun 30

Plan all 65 crops for Shenandoah

Shenandoah'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
1935	Apr 30
1936	Apr 22
1937	Apr 25
1938	Apr 22
1939	May 13
1940	Apr 19
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 4
1943	Apr 20
1944	May 6
1945	May 5
1946	May 11
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 22
1952	Apr 25
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 29
1959	May 15
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 17
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 2
1967	May 2
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 19
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 16
1974	Apr 15
1975	Apr 20
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 6
1978	May 2
1979	Apr 28
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 8
1984	May 1
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 22
1989	Apr 19
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 9
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 27
1996	Apr 24
1997	May 13
1998	Apr 17
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 24
2002	Apr 22
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 3
2005	Apr 30
2006	Apr 8
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 26
2009	Apr 15
2010	Mar 30
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 12
2013	May 2
2014	May 16
2015	Apr 23
2016	Apr 12
2017	Apr 11
2018	Apr 26
2019	Apr 14
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 26
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
1935	156
1936	182
1937	143
1938	180
1939	139
1940	159
1941	185
1942	142
1943	177
1944	156
1945	156
1946	153
1947	142
1948	179
1949	162
1950	154
1951	158
1952	163
1953	182
1954	161
1955	182
1956	184
1957	165
1958	154
1959	146
1960	168
1961	148
1962	189
1963	159
1964	179
1965	148
1966	155
1967	148
1968	161
1969	177
1970	159
1971	180
1972	180
1973	195
1974	168
1975	164
1976	155
1977	188
1978	157
1979	156
1980	130
1981	128
1982	174
1983	137
1984	147
1985	168
1986	174
1989	170
1991	160
1992	171
1993	183
1994	176
1995	147
1996	180
1997	161
1998	202
1999	168
2000	176
2001	174
2002	173
2003	171
2004	151
2005	159
2006	186
2007	189
2008	172
2009	171
2010	202
2011	168
2012	176
2013	169
2014	147
2015	189
2016	183
2017	199
2018	171
2019	180
2020	145
2021	182
2022	164
2023	166
2024	177
2025	205

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1935	19.6 °C
1936	22.3 °C
1937	20.8 °C
1938	20.7 °C
1939	20.9 °C
1940	19.9 °C
1941	21.2 °C
1942	20.2 °C
1943	19.9 °C
1944	19.6 °C
1945	18.6 °C
1946	19.6 °C
1947	19.9 °C
1948	20.9 °C
1949	19.9 °C
1950	18.2 °C
1951	18.3 °C
1952	20.4 °C
1953	20.1 °C
1954	21.4 °C
1955	21.6 °C
1957	19.9 °C
1958	19.8 °C
1959	20.2 °C
1960	20.4 °C
1961	18.9 °C
1962	20.4 °C
1963	21.3 °C
1964	20.8 °C
1965	20.3 °C
1966	19.2 °C
1967	18.9 °C
1968	20.1 °C
1969	20.1 °C
1970	20.8 °C
1971	20.1 °C
1972	19.9 °C
1973	19.6 °C
1974	19.8 °C
1975	19.9 °C
1976	20.1 °C
1977	21.4 °C
1978	20.4 °C
1979	19.1 °C
1980	20.6 °C
1981	20.0 °C
1982	19.4 °C
1983	20.6 °C
1984	19.9 °C
1985	19.9 °C
1986	20.6 °C
1989	18.9 °C
1991	20.6 °C
1992	18.0 °C
1993	18.2 °C
1994	19.5 °C
1995	19.4 °C
1996	18.5 °C
1997	18.6 °C
1998	20.7 °C
1999	19.4 °C
2000	20.3 °C
2001	20.1 °C
2002	20.5 °C
2003	19.9 °C
2004	19.6 °C
2005	21.0 °C
2006	20.5 °C
2007	20.8 °C
2008	19.3 °C
2009	18.7 °C
2010	21.0 °C
2011	20.1 °C
2012	21.4 °C
2013	19.3 °C
2014	19.2 °C
2015	19.8 °C
2016	20.6 °C
2017	20.2 °C
2018	20.0 °C
2019	20.0 °C
2020	19.4 °C
2021	20.1 °C
2022	19.8 °C
2023	20.2 °C
2024	20.2 °C
2025	20.0 °C
2026	21.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1935, Shenandoah'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 Shenandoah (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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