When to plant in Hays, KS

Planting dates worked out from Hays'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 27

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 13

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

169

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Hays 1 S · 2.4 km away · station 613 m, town 616 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Hays plan

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 23 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 9
Peas	—	Mar 16 – Apr 13	May 10
Bush beans	—	May 3 – May 24	Jun 22
Carrot	—	Apr 6 – May 18	Jun 5
Beet	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 19
Potato	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 15
Kale	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 12
Broccoli	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 20	May 29
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)	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 28
Garlic	—	Sep 29 – Oct 27 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 16 – Apr 13	Apr 23
Basil	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 10 – May 24	Jul 6

Plan all 65 crops for Hays

Hays'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
1893	May 1
1894	Jun 6
1895	May 27
1896	May 17
1897	Apr 14
1899	May 5
1900	Apr 14
1901	May 26
1902	Apr 26
1903	May 4
1904	May 15
1905	Apr 29
1906	Apr 14
1907	May 27
1908	May 8
1909	May 10
1910	Apr 27
1911	May 3
1912	May 16
1913	Apr 26
1914	May 13
1915	Apr 4
1916	May 3
1917	May 8
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 17
1920	Apr 27
1921	May 3
1922	Apr 18
1923	May 16
1924	May 15
1925	May 1
1926	Apr 28
1927	May 11
1928	Apr 16
1929	May 16
1930	May 19
1931	May 22
1932	Apr 12
1933	Apr 16
1934	Apr 21
1935	Apr 19
1936	Apr 17
1937	Apr 27
1938	May 8
1939	Apr 21
1940	May 15
1941	Apr 21
1942	May 7
1943	Apr 20
1944	May 6
1945	May 17
1946	May 11
1947	May 29
1948	May 12
1949	Apr 16
1950	Apr 30
1951	May 7
1952	May 11
1953	May 14
1954	May 3
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 24
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 13
1963	Apr 23
1964	Apr 29
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 13
1967	May 3
1968	Apr 24
1969	Apr 19
1970	May 2
1971	May 12
1972	Apr 9
1973	May 15
1975	Apr 19
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 5
1978	Apr 25
1979	May 11
1980	Apr 15
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 15
1984	Apr 30
1986	Apr 16
1987	Apr 22
1988	Apr 27
1990	Apr 12
1991	May 6
1992	Apr 27
1993	Apr 21
1994	Apr 30
1995	Apr 27
1996	Apr 23
1997	May 3
1998	Apr 21
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 25
2003	Apr 9
2004	May 14
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 15
2008	May 11
2009	Apr 11
2010	May 8
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 23
2013	May 4
2014	May 3
2015	May 12
2016	Apr 12
2017	May 1
2018	Apr 27
2019	May 10
2020	Apr 18
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 26
2023	May 1
2024	Apr 13
2025	Apr 15
2026	Apr 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	157
1894	100
1895	117
1896	146
1897	179
1899	147
1900	176
1901	116
1902	184
1903	134
1904	162
1905	164
1906	178
1907	123
1908	167
1909	154
1910	176
1911	157
1912	131
1913	173
1914	153
1915	169
1916	148
1917	152
1918	141
1919	175
1920	154
1921	149
1922	173
1923	157
1924	136
1925	160
1926	167
1927	172
1928	185
1929	157
1930	150
1931	158
1932	175
1933	174
1934	157
1935	186
1936	186
1937	177
1938	163
1939	171
1940	152
1941	189
1942	135
1943	168
1944	158
1945	119
1946	152
1947	108
1948	151
1949	165
1950	177
1951	152
1952	147
1953	143
1954	164
1955	192
1956	173
1957	193
1958	159
1959	177
1960	159
1961	169
1962	193
1963	191
1964	158
1965	176
1966	140
1967	147
1968	182
1969	177
1970	159
1971	133
1972	180
1973	166
1975	158
1976	147
1977	188
1978	163
1979	164
1980	170
1981	165
1982	171
1983	128
1984	151
1986	178
1987	172
1988	183
1990	180
1991	151
1992	164
1993	171
1994	161
1995	146
1996	177
1997	170
1998	202
1999	168
2001	170
2002	170
2003	190
2004	152
2005	148
2006	175
2007	190
2008	157
2009	174
2010	174
2011	169
2012	166
2013	164
2014	132
2015	169
2016	177
2017	162
2018	166
2019	153
2020	188
2021	176
2022	173
2023	158
2024	185
2025	197

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	19.9 °C
1894	20.6 °C
1895	20.0 °C
1896	21.2 °C
1897	22.5 °C
1898	20.3 °C
1899	20.3 °C
1900	20.9 °C
1901	21.2 °C
1902	19.9 °C
1903	18.6 °C
1905	20.0 °C
1906	19.9 °C
1907	18.7 °C
1908	19.9 °C
1909	20.0 °C
1910	19.4 °C
1911	21.0 °C
1912	19.8 °C
1913	21.4 °C
1914	21.0 °C
1915	18.3 °C
1916	19.5 °C
1917	19.2 °C
1918	20.2 °C
1919	20.7 °C
1920	19.5 °C
1921	21.4 °C
1922	21.4 °C
1923	20.6 °C
1924	20.0 °C
1925	21.4 °C
1926	21.0 °C
1927	20.1 °C
1928	19.2 °C
1929	20.7 °C
1930	21.1 °C
1931	21.3 °C
1932	21.3 °C
1933	22.1 °C
1934	23.1 °C
1935	20.6 °C
1936	22.8 °C
1937	22.4 °C
1938	21.7 °C
1939	22.6 °C
1940	21.2 °C
1941	21.2 °C
1942	20.7 °C
1943	21.9 °C
1944	20.4 °C
1945	20.0 °C
1946	21.6 °C
1947	20.4 °C
1948	20.9 °C
1949	20.2 °C
1950	18.9 °C
1951	18.7 °C
1952	21.3 °C
1953	20.4 °C
1954	22.0 °C
1955	21.7 °C
1956	21.4 °C
1957	19.4 °C
1958	19.8 °C
1959	20.5 °C
1960	20.3 °C
1961	18.9 °C
1962	20.4 °C
1963	22.3 °C
1964	21.2 °C
1965	20.2 °C
1966	20.4 °C
1967	18.9 °C
1968	20.0 °C
1969	20.1 °C
1970	20.7 °C
1971	19.9 °C
1972	19.6 °C
1973	19.5 °C
1975	19.9 °C
1976	20.1 °C
1977	21.7 °C
1978	21.2 °C
1979	20.2 °C
1980	21.6 °C
1981	20.9 °C
1982	19.9 °C
1983	20.4 °C
1984	20.1 °C
1986	21.3 °C
1987	20.9 °C
1988	21.6 °C
1989	20.3 °C
1990	20.9 °C
1991	22.1 °C
1992	19.5 °C
1993	19.4 °C
1994	21.1 °C
1995	19.7 °C
1996	19.9 °C
1997	19.7 °C
1998	21.7 °C
1999	20.4 °C
2000	21.8 °C
2001	21.4 °C
2002	21.5 °C
2003	20.7 °C
2004	20.3 °C
2005	21.4 °C
2006	21.9 °C
2007	21.0 °C
2008	19.9 °C
2009	19.7 °C
2010	21.9 °C
2011	21.9 °C
2012	22.8 °C
2013	20.8 °C
2014	20.6 °C
2015	21.6 °C
2016	21.1 °C
2017	20.6 °C
2018	20.9 °C
2019	20.8 °C
2020	20.2 °C
2021	21.0 °C
2022	21.6 °C
2023	21.3 °C
2024	21.5 °C
2025	21.0 °C
2026	22.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Hays'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 Hays 1 S (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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