When to plant in Elkhart, KS

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 29

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 14

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 22

1 year in 10 by Oct 7

Frost-free days

187

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Elkhart · 0.4 km away · station 1097 m, town 1094 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 4 – Mar 18	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 23
Sweet pepper	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 28
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 10 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 26
Peas	—	Mar 6 – Apr 3	Apr 30
Bush beans	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 11
Carrot	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 23
Beet	—	Mar 18 – Apr 29	May 7
Potato	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 2
Kale	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 29
Broccoli	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 16
Cucumber	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 18
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 13
Winter squash	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jul 18
Sweet corn	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 21
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	Jun 15
Garlic	—	Oct 8 – Nov 5 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 6 – Apr 3	Apr 13
Basil	Mar 18 – Apr 1	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 25

Plan all 65 crops for Elkhart

Elkhart'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
1901	Apr 18
1902	Apr 26
1903	Apr 30
1904	Apr 26
1905	Apr 21
1913	Apr 26
1915	May 20
1916	May 3
1917	May 7
1918	May 10
1919	Apr 17
1921	May 2
1922	Apr 21
1923	May 16
1924	May 15
1925	May 1
1927	Apr 22
1928	Apr 22
1929	May 2
1930	Apr 3
1931	Apr 26
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 20
1934	Mar 30
1935	May 5
1937	Apr 25
1938	Apr 9
1939	Apr 18
1940	Apr 18
1941	Apr 20
1942	Apr 9
1943	Mar 25
1944	Apr 23
1945	May 3
1946	May 11
1947	Apr 26
1948	Apr 13
1949	Apr 15
1950	Apr 30
1952	Apr 13
1955	Apr 13
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 24
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 30
1961	Apr 27
1962	Apr 6
1963	Apr 23
1964	Apr 14
1965	Mar 30
1966	May 13
1967	May 2
1968	Apr 24
1969	Apr 18
1970	May 2
1971	May 12
1972	Apr 4
1973	Apr 27
1974	May 5
1975	Apr 18
1976	Apr 4
1977	Apr 5
1978	May 3
1980	Apr 18
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 22
1983	Apr 18
1984	May 1
1985	Apr 6
1986	May 18
1987	Apr 22
1988	Apr 23
1990	Apr 17
1991	Apr 14
1992	Apr 3
1993	Apr 20
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 23
1996	Apr 29
1997	Apr 15
1998	Apr 20
1999	Apr 17
2000	Apr 16
2001	Mar 28
2002	Apr 5
2003	Apr 9
2004	Apr 14
2005	May 2
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 27
2009	Apr 11
2010	Apr 8
2011	Mar 31
2012	Mar 21
2013	May 3
2014	Apr 16
2015	Apr 11
2016	Apr 3
2017	Mar 16
2018	Apr 19
2019	Apr 14
2020	Apr 18
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 17
2023	Apr 16
2024	Apr 8
2025	Apr 7
2026	Apr 18

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1901	177
1902	138
1903	138
1904	175
1913	167
1915	137
1916	148
1917	153
1918	134
1921	170
1922	169
1923	155
1924	149
1925	160
1927	157
1928	182
1929	173
1930	198
1931	186
1932	160
1933	184
1934	179
1937	190
1938	193
1939	174
1940	179
1941	192
1942	198
1943	203
1944	199
1945	147
1946	152
1947	189
1948	176
1949	189
1950	186
1952	176
1957	192
1958	159
1959	177
1960	182
1961	178
1962	210
1963	191
1964	173
1966	154
1967	166
1968	176
1969	176
1970	158
1971	169
1972	196
1973	183
1974	162
1975	188
1976	185
1977	188
1980	181
1981	166
1982	171
1983	155
1984	150
1985	175
1986	146
1987	179
1990	174
1991	187
1992	187
1993	172
1994	187
1995	150
1996	171
1997	192
1998	198
1999	168
2000	161
2001	210
2002	200
2003	199
2004	201
2005	173
2006	187
2007	202
2008	179
2009	181
2010	202
2011	209
2012	218
2013	169
2014	208
2015	209
2016	222
2017	224
2018	178
2019	179
2020	180
2021	190
2022	201
2023	193
2024	205
2025	204

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1900	20.9 °C
1901	21.2 °C
1902	20.5 °C
1903	19.1 °C
1904	19.7 °C
1905	20.0 °C
1913	21.0 °C
1914	21.1 °C
1915	18.3 °C
1917	19.4 °C
1918	20.2 °C
1919	20.4 °C
1921	20.6 °C
1922	21.0 °C
1923	20.2 °C
1924	19.8 °C
1925	21.3 °C
1927	20.7 °C
1928	20.3 °C
1929	20.6 °C
1930	21.6 °C
1931	21.4 °C
1932	21.3 °C
1933	21.8 °C
1934	22.5 °C
1937	22.5 °C
1938	21.9 °C
1939	22.1 °C
1940	21.2 °C
1941	19.9 °C
1942	20.4 °C
1943	21.6 °C
1944	20.2 °C
1945	19.9 °C
1946	21.8 °C
1947	20.7 °C
1948	21.5 °C
1949	20.6 °C
1950	20.1 °C
1952	22.2 °C
1953	21.7 °C
1955	21.5 °C
1956	21.8 °C
1957	20.1 °C
1958	20.8 °C
1959	20.7 °C
1960	21.1 °C
1961	20.3 °C
1962	21.7 °C
1963	22.6 °C
1964	21.8 °C
1965	20.8 °C
1966	20.8 °C
1967	20.8 °C
1968	20.7 °C
1969	21.4 °C
1970	21.1 °C
1971	20.6 °C
1972	20.9 °C
1973	20.0 °C
1974	21.0 °C
1975	20.9 °C
1976	20.8 °C
1977	22.2 °C
1978	21.3 °C
1979	20.1 °C
1980	21.4 °C
1981	21.6 °C
1982	20.5 °C
1983	20.9 °C
1984	20.4 °C
1985	21.4 °C
1986	21.5 °C
1987	20.9 °C
1990	21.0 °C
1991	20.8 °C
1992	19.8 °C
1993	20.0 °C
1994	21.5 °C
1995	19.6 °C
1996	20.6 °C
1997	19.7 °C
1998	21.6 °C
1999	20.5 °C
2000	21.9 °C
2001	22.2 °C
2002	21.7 °C
2003	20.7 °C
2004	20.1 °C
2005	21.0 °C
2006	21.9 °C
2007	21.4 °C
2008	21.1 °C
2009	20.5 °C
2010	22.1 °C
2011	22.6 °C
2012	22.7 °C
2013	21.2 °C
2014	21.1 °C
2015	21.6 °C
2016	21.3 °C
2017	21.2 °C
2018	21.3 °C
2019	21.3 °C
2020	21.5 °C
2021	21.1 °C
2022	21.9 °C
2023	20.9 °C
2024	22.1 °C
2025	21.2 °C
2026	23.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1901, Elkhart's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Goodwell, OK Guymon, OK Hugoton Hooker, OK Boise City, OK Johnson