When to plant in Osborne, KS

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

Safe to plant out

May 3

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 20

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 16

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

176

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Smith Ctr · 38.2 km away · station 555 m, town 473 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Osborne plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 8 – Mar 22	May 3 – May 17	Jun 27
Sweet pepper	Feb 22 – Mar 8	May 3 – May 17	Jul 2
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 16 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 2
Peas	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	May 11
Bush beans	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 15
Carrot	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 29
Beet	—	Mar 25 – May 6	May 14
Potato	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 8
Kale	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 6
Broccoli	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 13	May 22
Cucumber	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jun 22
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jun 17
Winter squash	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jul 22
Sweet corn	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 23 – Apr 13	Jun 21
Garlic	—	Oct 2 – Oct 30 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	Apr 24
Basil	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 3 – May 17	Jun 29

Plan all 65 crops for Osborne

Osborne'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
1913	Apr 26
1914	May 13
1915	May 7
1916	May 2
1917	May 8
1918	Apr 28
1919	Apr 17
1920	Apr 27
1921	Apr 26
1922	Apr 19
1923	May 16
1952	May 11
1953	May 14
1955	Apr 14
1956	Apr 29
1957	Apr 13
1958	Apr 24
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 15
1963	Apr 4
1964	Apr 14
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 13
1967	May 3
1968	May 20
1969	Mar 31
1970	May 2
1971	Apr 6
1972	Apr 8
1973	May 3
1974	Apr 16
1975	Apr 12
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 5
1978	Apr 21
1979	May 11
1980	Apr 15
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 15
1984	Apr 30
1985	Apr 8
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 10
1988	Apr 27
1989	May 6
1990	Apr 13
1991	Apr 30
1992	Apr 26
1993	Apr 16
1994	Apr 30
1995	Apr 27
1996	Apr 14
1997	Apr 14
1998	Mar 31
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 17
2002	Apr 25
2003	Apr 9
2004	May 3
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 27
2009	Apr 29
2010	Apr 8
2011	Apr 17
2012	Mar 10
2013	May 4
2014	May 3
2015	Apr 11
2016	Apr 12
2017	May 1
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 11
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 27
2023	Apr 24
2025	Apr 19
2026	Apr 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1913	152
1914	154
1915	150
1916	135
1917	152
1918	144
1920	154
1921	156
1922	172
1923	150
1952	147
1953	143
1955	185
1956	160
1957	194
1958	159
1959	169
1960	159
1961	169
1962	192
1963	210
1964	177
1965	148
1966	140
1967	159
1968	156
1969	196
1970	162
1971	186
1972	181
1973	177
1974	181
1975	195
1976	147
1977	188
1978	167
1979	151
1980	186
1981	161
1982	171
1983	128
1984	151
1985	173
1986	172
1987	182
1988	183
1989	164
1990	179
1991	157
1992	165
1993	176
1994	177
1995	147
1996	186
1997	193
1998	217
1999	168
2000	156
2001	171
2002	170
2003	199
2004	163
2005	172
2006	186
2007	190
2008	181
2009	162
2010	207
2011	185
2012	210
2013	167
2014	178
2015	200
2016	177
2017	174
2018	173
2019	178
2020	165
2021	176
2022	172
2023	174
2025	182

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1913	22.1 °C
1914	21.3 °C
1915	18.9 °C
1916	19.9 °C
1917	19.8 °C
1918	20.3 °C
1920	18.7 °C
1921	21.4 °C
1922	21.2 °C
1923	19.6 °C
1924	20.1 °C
1952	21.2 °C
1953	20.6 °C
1955	21.6 °C
1956	21.1 °C
1957	19.8 °C
1958	19.9 °C
1959	20.6 °C
1960	20.1 °C
1961	18.8 °C
1962	20.9 °C
1963	22.5 °C
1964	21.9 °C
1965	20.5 °C
1966	21.1 °C
1967	19.6 °C
1968	20.6 °C
1969	21.0 °C
1970	22.0 °C
1971	20.8 °C
1972	20.6 °C
1973	20.4 °C
1974	21.0 °C
1975	20.9 °C
1976	21.3 °C
1977	22.6 °C
1978	21.7 °C
1979	20.6 °C
1980	22.6 °C
1981	21.3 °C
1982	20.2 °C
1983	21.3 °C
1984	21.0 °C
1985	20.9 °C
1986	21.5 °C
1987	21.4 °C
1988	22.2 °C
1989	20.8 °C
1990	21.1 °C
1991	22.2 °C
1992	19.4 °C
1993	19.5 °C
1994	21.3 °C
1995	19.9 °C
1996	20.3 °C
1997	20.2 °C
1998	22.1 °C
1999	20.7 °C
2000	22.5 °C
2001	22.0 °C
2002	22.5 °C
2003	21.4 °C
2004	21.1 °C
2005	20.9 °C
2006	20.8 °C
2007	20.3 °C
2008	18.9 °C
2009	19.1 °C
2010	21.0 °C
2011	20.3 °C
2012	22.2 °C
2013	20.1 °C
2014	20.0 °C
2015	20.5 °C
2016	20.4 °C
2017	20.5 °C
2018	20.5 °C
2019	20.4 °C
2020	20.1 °C
2021	20.8 °C
2022	21.0 °C
2023	20.9 °C
2025	20.8 °C
2026	22.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1913, Osborne'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 Smith Ctr (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Smith Center Stockton Beloit Plainville Russell Phillipsburg