When to plant in Toledo, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 8

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

158

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Toledo 3n · 4.5 km away · station 285 m, town 276 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 15 – Mar 29	May 10 – May 24	Jul 4
Sweet pepper	Mar 1 – Mar 15	May 10 – May 24	Jul 9
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 26 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 12
Peas	—	Apr 2 – Apr 30	May 27
Bush beans	—	May 3 – May 24	Jun 22
Carrot	—	Apr 11 – May 23	Jun 10
Beet	—	Apr 11 – May 23	May 31
Potato	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 20
Kale	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 22
Broccoli	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jun 1
Cucumber	Apr 12 – Apr 19	May 10 – May 24	Jun 29
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 12 – Apr 19	May 10 – May 24	Jun 24
Winter squash	Apr 12 – Apr 19	May 10 – May 24	Jul 29
Sweet corn	—	May 3 – May 24	Jul 2
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jul 1
Garlic	—	Sep 24 – Oct 22 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 2 – Apr 30	May 10
Basil	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 10 – May 24	Jul 6

Plan all 65 crops for Toledo

Toledo'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
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 9
1897	May 31
1898	May 6
1899	Apr 19
1900	May 5
1901	May 13
1904	Apr 27
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 9
1907	May 20
1908	May 3
1909	May 10
1910	Apr 25
1911	May 2
1912	Apr 27
1913	Apr 29
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 17
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 13
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	May 20
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 12
1929	May 19
1930	Apr 25
1931	May 21
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 22
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 12
1939	Apr 19
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 25
1942	May 16
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	May 18
1946	May 11
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	May 14
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	May 4
1958	May 5
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 23
1965	Apr 27
1966	May 14
1967	May 10
1968	May 11
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 13
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 15
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 6
1979	May 12
1980	May 10
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 8
1984	Apr 19
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 24
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 23
1995	Apr 25
1996	May 2
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 18
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 19
2002	May 4
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 20
2010	May 10
2011	May 5
2012	Apr 22
2013	May 13
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 12
2021	Apr 26
2022	Apr 27
2023	May 4
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 17
2026	May 3

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1896	163
1897	111
1898	160
1899	159
1900	155
1901	128
1904	140
1905	172
1906	144
1907	127
1908	147
1909	139
1910	179
1911	170
1912	151
1913	145
1914	187
1915	140
1916	138
1917	110
1918	129
1919	167
1920	138
1921	140
1922	165
1923	127
1924	132
1925	134
1926	157
1927	172
1928	135
1929	121
1930	174
1931	164
1932	155
1933	167
1934	152
1935	152
1936	162
1937	143
1938	159
1939	163
1940	144
1941	184
1942	130
1943	165
1944	156
1945	133
1946	176
1947	160
1948	185
1949	157
1950	154
1951	157
1952	169
1953	165
1954	163
1955	191
1956	161
1957	158
1958	148
1959	169
1960	168
1961	124
1962	153
1963	157
1965	167
1966	124
1967	141
1968	145
1969	154
1970	160
1971	129
1972	157
1973	154
1974	138
1975	165
1976	150
1977	159
1978	154
1979	145
1980	139
1981	142
1982	180
1983	137
1984	159
1985	164
1986	165
1987	179
1988	156
1989	138
1990	174
1991	148
1992	145
1993	190
1995	149
1996	153
1997	151
1998	184
1999	154
2000	175
2001	169
2002	155
2003	158
2004	150
2005	155
2006	158
2007	151
2008	169
2009	172
2010	145
2011	168
2012	153
2013	160
2014	174
2015	175
2016	182
2017	181
2018	165
2019	165
2020	144
2021	178
2022	153
2023	158
2024	175
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1896	18.5 °C
1897	18.1 °C
1898	18.2 °C
1899	18.6 °C
1900	19.6 °C
1904	16.9 °C
1905	17.9 °C
1906	19.0 °C
1907	16.5 °C
1908	18.2 °C
1909	17.3 °C
1910	18.2 °C
1911	19.0 °C
1912	18.1 °C
1913	19.2 °C
1914	19.2 °C
1915	17.4 °C
1916	18.7 °C
1917	17.3 °C
1918	18.3 °C
1919	19.1 °C
1920	17.9 °C
1921	20.2 °C
1922	19.6 °C
1923	18.7 °C
1924	17.0 °C
1925	19.2 °C
1926	18.5 °C
1927	17.4 °C
1928	17.2 °C
1929	17.6 °C
1930	19.3 °C
1931	19.6 °C
1932	18.6 °C
1933	19.3 °C
1934	20.4 °C
1935	17.5 °C
1936	19.8 °C
1937	18.3 °C
1938	18.6 °C
1939	18.9 °C
1940	18.2 °C
1941	19.7 °C
1942	18.6 °C
1943	18.0 °C
1944	18.4 °C
1945	17.1 °C
1946	17.9 °C
1947	18.4 °C
1948	19.4 °C
1949	18.7 °C
1950	16.7 °C
1951	17.1 °C
1952	18.6 °C
1953	18.0 °C
1954	18.8 °C
1955	19.8 °C
1956	18.3 °C
1957	18.1 °C
1958	17.7 °C
1959	18.7 °C
1960	17.8 °C
1961	16.3 °C
1962	17.6 °C
1963	17.8 °C
1964	17.2 °C
1965	17.1 °C
1966	16.6 °C
1967	16.3 °C
1968	17.4 °C
1969	17.5 °C
1970	18.2 °C
1971	17.4 °C
1972	17.4 °C
1973	17.4 °C
1974	16.8 °C
1975	17.1 °C
1976	17.5 °C
1977	19.1 °C
1978	18.2 °C
1979	17.1 °C
1980	18.8 °C
1981	18.1 °C
1982	17.3 °C
1983	18.3 °C
1984	17.1 °C
1985	17.7 °C
1986	18.0 °C
1987	19.0 °C
1988	19.5 °C
1989	17.4 °C
1990	17.7 °C
1991	19.0 °C
1992	16.3 °C
1993	17.7 °C
1995	18.2 °C
1996	17.2 °C
1997	17.7 °C
1998	18.5 °C
1999	17.6 °C
2000	17.7 °C
2001	17.8 °C
2002	17.8 °C
2003	17.2 °C
2004	16.9 °C
2005	18.5 °C
2006	18.0 °C
2007	18.2 °C
2008	16.8 °C
2009	16.5 °C
2010	18.8 °C
2011	17.5 °C
2012	18.7 °C
2013	17.2 °C
2014	16.8 °C
2015	17.8 °C
2016	18.3 °C
2017	17.7 °C
2018	17.9 °C
2019	17.7 °C
2020	17.5 °C
2021	18.5 °C
2022	17.7 °C
2023	18.5 °C
2024	18.3 °C
2025	18.4 °C
2026	19.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1895, Toledo'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 Toledo 3n (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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