When to plant in Meads, KY

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

Safe to plant out

May 20

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 30

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 15

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

168

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Ashland · 9.5 km away · station 171 m, town 185 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 25 – Apr 8	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 14
Sweet pepper	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 19
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 26 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 12
Peas	—	Mar 19 – Apr 16	May 13
Bush beans	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 2
Carrot	—	Apr 9 – May 21	Jun 8
Beet	—	Apr 2 – May 14	May 22
Potato	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 18
Kale	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 15
Broccoli	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jun 1
Cucumber	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 9
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 4
Winter squash	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Aug 8
Sweet corn	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 12
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jul 1
Garlic	—	Oct 1 – Oct 29 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 19 – Apr 16	Apr 26
Basil	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 16

Plan all 65 crops for Meads

Meads'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
1897	Apr 20
1898	Apr 28
1920	Apr 13
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 24
1923	Apr 18
1924	Apr 23
1925	Apr 7
1926	Apr 27
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 26
1929	Apr 23
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 28
1932	Apr 15
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 12
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 28
1941	Apr 3
1942	Apr 21
1943	Apr 22
1944	Apr 13
1945	Apr 19
1946	Apr 13
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 4
1949	Apr 21
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 18
1952	Apr 8
1953	Apr 20
1954	May 11
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 23
1957	Apr 15
1958	Apr 30
1959	Mar 28
1960	Apr 11
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 11
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 15
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	May 8
1969	May 1
1970	May 8
1971	May 5
1972	Apr 28
1973	May 5
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 10
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 20
1980	May 9
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 29
1984	Apr 12
1985	Apr 11
1987	May 9
1988	Jun 11
1991	Apr 23
1993	May 22
1994	May 3
1995	May 3
1996	May 15
1997	May 17
2002	May 22
2007	Apr 17
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 13
2012	Apr 25
2013	Apr 6
2014	Apr 17
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 16
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 21
2023	Apr 26
2025	Apr 13

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	192
1920	199
1921	169
1922	176
1923	196
1924	182
1926	181
1927	194
1928	152
1929	177
1930	176
1931	188
1932	197
1933	181
1934	168
1935	172
1936	187
1937	184
1938	197
1939	183
1940	173
1941	219
1942	160
1943	195
1944	185
1945	190
1946	206
1947	142
1948	196
1949	198
1950	202
1951	198
1952	195
1953	192
1954	161
1955	198
1956	203
1957	187
1958	190
1959	213
1960	192
1962	149
1963	171
1964	151
1965	172
1966	146
1967	173
1968	171
1969	169
1970	161
1971	182
1972	173
1973	164
1974	137
1975	163
1976	156
1977	153
1979	176
1980	149
1981	157
1982	169
1985	178
1988	87
1993	141
1994	160
1995	142
1996	148
1997	156
2007	193
2008	171
2009	187
2012	168
2013	201
2014	198
2019	187
2020	160
2021	192
2022	170
2023	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	20.2 °C
1898	21.4 °C
1920	19.7 °C
1921	22.2 °C
1922	21.5 °C
1923	20.7 °C
1924	19.3 °C
1926	20.5 °C
1927	19.4 °C
1928	19.2 °C
1929	20.2 °C
1930	21.4 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	20.4 °C
1933	21.6 °C
1934	21.7 °C
1935	20.4 °C
1936	22.1 °C
1937	20.1 °C
1938	21.0 °C
1939	21.2 °C
1940	20.2 °C
1941	21.6 °C
1942	21.1 °C
1943	20.9 °C
1944	21.6 °C
1945	20.6 °C
1946	20.1 °C
1947	20.8 °C
1948	21.3 °C
1949	20.2 °C
1950	20.2 °C
1951	20.7 °C
1952	21.8 °C
1953	21.2 °C
1954	21.5 °C
1955	21.7 °C
1956	20.3 °C
1957	21.6 °C
1958	20.1 °C
1959	21.7 °C
1960	20.8 °C
1961	18.3 °C
1962	19.0 °C
1963	18.1 °C
1964	19.8 °C
1965	19.6 °C
1966	18.6 °C
1967	18.3 °C
1968	19.2 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1970	20.1 °C
1971	18.8 °C
1972	18.9 °C
1973	19.3 °C
1974	18.0 °C
1975	19.2 °C
1977	20.0 °C
1978	19.7 °C
1979	18.8 °C
1980	20.4 °C
1981	19.6 °C
1983	19.0 °C
1984	18.8 °C
1985	18.8 °C
1986	18.9 °C
1987	18.2 °C
1988	17.2 °C
1989	18.5 °C
1991	20.7 °C
1993	19.4 °C
1994	19.0 °C
1995	19.6 °C
1996	18.1 °C
1997	18.0 °C
2002	21.6 °C
2006	20.1 °C
2007	20.5 °C
2008	19.8 °C
2009	19.0 °C
2012	20.2 °C
2013	19.6 °C
2014	19.8 °C
2018	20.7 °C
2019	21.0 °C
2020	19.5 °C
2021	19.3 °C
2022	19.8 °C
2023	20.1 °C
2024	21.4 °C
2025	20.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Meads's last spring frost has come about 1 day later per decade, on average. The frost-free season has shrunk 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 Ashland (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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