When to plant in Murray, KY

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 31

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 4

1 year in 10 by Oct 25

Frost-free days

211

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Murray · 1.2 km away · station 150 m, town 163 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	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 10
Sweet pepper	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 27 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 12
Peas	—	Feb 22 – Mar 22	Apr 18
Bush beans	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	May 29
Carrot	—	Mar 10 – Apr 21	May 9
Beet	—	Mar 4 – Apr 15	Apr 23
Potato	—	Mar 10 – Mar 31	May 19
Kale	Jan 20 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 15
Broccoli	Jan 20 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 24	May 2
Cucumber	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 31
Winter squash	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jul 5
Sweet corn	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 3 – Mar 24	Jun 1
Garlic	—	Oct 21 – Nov 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 22 – Mar 22	Apr 1
Basil	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 12

Plan all 65 crops for Murray

Murray'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
1927	Apr 23
1928	Apr 16
1929	Mar 18
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 27
1932	Apr 15
1933	Apr 12
1934	Apr 25
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 19
1940	Apr 13
1942	Mar 30
1943	Apr 13
1944	Apr 5
1945	Mar 9
1946	Mar 9
1948	Apr 2
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 17
1952	Apr 7
1953	Apr 20
1954	Apr 2
1955	Mar 31
1956	Apr 19
1957	Apr 15
1958	Apr 8
1959	Apr 14
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 2
1963	Mar 27
1964	Apr 9
1965	Mar 27
1966	Apr 10
1967	Mar 22
1968	Mar 25
1969	Apr 1
1970	Mar 18
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 11
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 4
1976	Mar 17
1977	Mar 23
1978	Mar 28
1979	Apr 6
1980	Apr 15
1981	Mar 23
1983	Apr 21
1984	Apr 1
1988	Mar 19
1989	Apr 12
1990	Apr 12
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 3
1993	Apr 3
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 1
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 18
1998	Mar 22
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 9
2001	Mar 28
2002	Apr 5
2003	Mar 31
2004	Mar 22
2005	Mar 16
2006	Mar 27
2007	Apr 9
2008	Apr 15
2009	Mar 13
2010	Mar 7
2012	Mar 4
2013	Mar 27
2014	Apr 16
2015	Mar 29
2016	Mar 6
2017	Mar 16
2018	Apr 17
2019	Apr 17
2020	Apr 16
2021	Apr 3
2022	Mar 15
2023	Mar 21
2024	Mar 21
2025	Mar 22
2026	Mar 18

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1927	173
1928	160
1929	218
1930	175
1931	173
1932	174
1933	196
1934	185
1936	191
1940	206
1943	186
1944	214
1945	239
1946	248
1948	198
1949	163
1950	197
1951	174
1952	182
1953	170
1954	201
1955	201
1956	203
1957	187
1958	212
1959	196
1960	192
1963	216
1964	224
1965	211
1966	205
1967	226
1968	214
1969	209
1970	232
1971	210
1972	220
1973	208
1974	176
1975	223
1976	214
1977	204
1978	200
1979	190
1981	214
1983	197
1984	224
1989	190
1990	199
1991	190
1992	217
1993	209
1994	229
1995	216
1996	206
1997	192
1998	229
1999	211
2000	181
2001	213
2002	210
2004	247
2005	245
2006	210
2007	207
2008	195
2009	258
2010	243
2012	241
2013	211
2014	198
2015	236
2016	251
2017	225
2018	206
2019	197
2020	199
2021	214
2022	216
2023	223
2024	246
2025	232

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1926	22.2 °C
1927	21.9 °C
1928	20.8 °C
1929	21.7 °C
1930	22.1 °C
1931	22.0 °C
1932	22.1 °C
1933	22.5 °C
1934	22.5 °C
1935	20.8 °C
1936	23.1 °C
1940	21.1 °C
1941	23.4 °C
1942	22.1 °C
1943	22.3 °C
1944	22.4 °C
1945	21.8 °C
1946	21.7 °C
1949	21.7 °C
1950	20.8 °C
1951	21.8 °C
1952	22.9 °C
1953	22.8 °C
1954	23.5 °C
1955	22.9 °C
1956	22.1 °C
1957	22.2 °C
1958	22.0 °C
1959	22.4 °C
1960	22.3 °C
1961	21.0 °C
1962	21.9 °C
1963	21.5 °C
1964	22.1 °C
1965	22.1 °C
1966	20.9 °C
1967	20.4 °C
1968	21.2 °C
1969	21.7 °C
1970	22.6 °C
1971	21.6 °C
1972	22.2 °C
1973	22.1 °C
1974	21.3 °C
1975	21.8 °C
1976	21.1 °C
1977	23.6 °C
1978	22.8 °C
1979	21.2 °C
1980	23.1 °C
1981	22.4 °C
1983	22.2 °C
1984	21.6 °C
1989	21.4 °C
1990	21.8 °C
1991	23.1 °C
1992	21.0 °C
1993	22.0 °C
1994	21.6 °C
1995	22.2 °C
1996	21.4 °C
1997	20.7 °C
1998	23.0 °C
1999	23.2 °C
2000	22.6 °C
2001	22.6 °C
2002	22.9 °C
2004	22.0 °C
2005	22.9 °C
2006	22.8 °C
2007	23.5 °C
2008	22.5 °C
2009	22.0 °C
2010	24.4 °C
2011	23.2 °C
2012	23.4 °C
2013	21.9 °C
2014	22.7 °C
2015	23.3 °C
2016	23.7 °C
2017	23.1 °C
2018	23.9 °C
2019	23.6 °C
2020	22.0 °C
2021	22.4 °C
2022	23.1 °C
2023	22.7 °C
2024	23.6 °C
2025	23.5 °C
2026	23.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1927, Murray's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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