When to plant in Haverhill, MA

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

Safe to plant out

May 18

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 3

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Sep 29

Frost-free days

160

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Haverhill · 2.3 km away · station 6 m, town 16 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Haverhill plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 18 – Jun 1	Jul 12
Sweet pepper	Mar 9 – Mar 23	May 18 – Jun 1	Jul 17
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 2 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 16
Peas	—	Apr 6 – May 4	May 31
Bush beans	—	May 11 – Jun 1	Jun 30
Carrot	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 15
Beet	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 5
Potato	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 25
Kale	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 26
Broccoli	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 5
Cucumber	Apr 20 – Apr 27	May 18 – Jun 1	Jul 7
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 20 – Apr 27	May 18 – Jun 1	Jul 2
Winter squash	Apr 20 – Apr 27	May 18 – Jun 1	Aug 6
Sweet corn	—	May 11 – Jun 1	Jul 10
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jul 5
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 6 – May 4	May 14
Basil	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 18 – Jun 1	Jul 14

Plan all 65 crops for Haverhill

Haverhill'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
1900	May 11
1901	Apr 28
1902	May 10
1903	May 2
1904	Apr 23
1905	May 21
1906	Apr 13
1907	May 12
1908	Apr 21
1909	Apr 29
1910	Apr 17
1911	May 4
1912	Apr 24
1913	May 11
1914	May 2
1915	Apr 22
1916	Apr 28
1917	Apr 25
1918	Apr 20
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	May 5
1922	Apr 23
1923	May 11
1925	Apr 21
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 15
1928	Apr 21
1929	Apr 14
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 12
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 28
1934	Apr 29
1935	Apr 18
1937	Apr 26
1938	Apr 11
1939	May 1
1940	Apr 22
1941	Apr 12
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 14
1950	May 8
1951	Apr 22
1952	Apr 17
1953	Apr 16
1954	Apr 13
1955	Apr 17
1956	May 9
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 27
1959	Apr 23
1960	Apr 20
1961	Apr 20
1962	Apr 25
1963	Apr 17
1964	May 3
1965	Apr 25
1966	May 3
1967	Apr 26
1968	Apr 12
1969	Apr 21
1970	Apr 20
1971	Apr 28
1972	Apr 27
1973	Apr 15
1974	May 5
1975	Apr 30
1976	Apr 13
1977	Apr 11
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 21
1980	Apr 20
1981	May 18
1982	Apr 30
1983	Apr 23
1984	May 3
1985	May 15
1986	May 14
1987	May 14
1988	May 9
1989	Apr 29
1990	Apr 24
1991	Apr 26
1992	May 26
1993	Apr 29
1994	May 3
1995	May 9
1996	May 15
1997	May 5
1998	May 14
1999	May 14
2000	May 3
2001	May 7
2002	May 20
2003	May 18
2004	Apr 17
2005	May 13
2006	May 1
2007	May 6
2008	May 1
2009	Apr 21
2010	May 12
2011	Apr 17
2012	Apr 14
2013	Apr 23
2014	May 29
2015	Apr 17
2016	Apr 29
2017	Apr 19
2018	Apr 24
2019	Apr 19
2020	May 7
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 22
2023	May 19
2024	Apr 28
2025	Apr 22
2026	May 31

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1900	161
1901	180
1902	160
1903	172
1904	152
1905	153
1906	182
1907	150
1908	174
1909	173
1910	194
1911	176
1912	150
1913	164
1914	149
1915	185
1916	172
1917	151
1918	197
1919	153
1920	206
1921	173
1922	173
1923	158
1925	157
1926	184
1927	198
1928	176
1929	177
1930	178
1931	180
1932	168
1933	180
1934	186
1935	172
1937	165
1938	203
1940	177
1941	196
1942	199
1943	177
1944	199
1950	139
1951	173
1952	185
1953	180
1954	177
1955	188
1956	154
1957	187
1958	161
1959	178
1960	184
1961	178
1962	182
1963	175
1964	139
1965	155
1966	162
1967	179
1968	201
1969	184
1970	182
1971	191
1972	166
1973	189
1974	161
1975	183
1976	188
1977	195
1978	160
1979	172
1980	172
1981	134
1982	163
1983	179
1984	155
1985	145
1986	145
1987	134
1988	129
1989	148
1990	179
1991	156
1992	121
1993	143
1994	160
1995	142
1996	141
1997	150
1998	144
1999	145
2000	148
2001	153
2002	147
2003	141
2004	171
2008	170
2009	173
2010	159
2011	193
2012	181
2013	185
2014	164
2015	183
2016	169
2017	196
2018	177
2019	168
2020	164
2021	189
2022	189
2024	171
2025	170

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1901	17.8 °C
1902	17.0 °C
1903	16.7 °C
1904	16.9 °C
1905	17.0 °C
1906	17.6 °C
1907	16.6 °C
1908	18.4 °C
1909	17.1 °C
1910	17.6 °C
1911	18.3 °C
1912	16.5 °C
1913	18.0 °C
1914	16.9 °C
1915	17.3 °C
1916	17.2 °C
1917	16.4 °C
1918	17.6 °C
1919	18.0 °C
1920	17.5 °C
1921	18.6 °C
1922	18.1 °C
1923	17.3 °C
1925	18.0 °C
1926	16.8 °C
1927	17.0 °C
1928	17.3 °C
1929	17.9 °C
1930	18.6 °C
1931	18.8 °C
1932	18.2 °C
1933	18.3 °C
1934	18.7 °C
1935	17.5 °C
1937	18.3 °C
1938	18.4 °C
1940	16.9 °C
1941	19.2 °C
1942	18.8 °C
1943	18.0 °C
1944	18.8 °C
1950	16.6 °C
1951	17.2 °C
1952	18.1 °C
1953	17.4 °C
1954	16.4 °C
1955	19.1 °C
1956	16.9 °C
1957	18.6 °C
1958	17.4 °C
1959	18.8 °C
1960	18.1 °C
1961	18.1 °C
1962	17.3 °C
1963	18.0 °C
1964	17.4 °C
1965	17.8 °C
1966	17.4 °C
1967	17.2 °C
1968	17.9 °C
1969	18.3 °C
1970	18.4 °C
1971	18.0 °C
1972	17.1 °C
1973	18.5 °C
1974	17.9 °C
1975	18.1 °C
1976	18.5 °C
1977	18.3 °C
1978	17.6 °C
1979	18.0 °C
1980	16.7 °C
1981	16.8 °C
1982	15.3 °C
1983	16.9 °C
1984	16.4 °C
1985	15.8 °C
1986	15.4 °C
1987	15.7 °C
1988	16.0 °C
1989	16.6 °C
1990	16.4 °C
1991	17.2 °C
1992	15.6 °C
1993	17.0 °C
1994	17.2 °C
1995	16.4 °C
1996	16.5 °C
1997	15.9 °C
1998	17.5 °C
1999	17.9 °C
2000	16.3 °C
2001	17.5 °C
2002	17.5 °C
2003	16.8 °C
2004	16.9 °C
2008	16.4 °C
2009	15.9 °C
2010	17.4 °C
2011	16.8 °C
2012	17.5 °C
2013	16.9 °C
2014	16.2 °C
2015	17.0 °C
2016	16.9 °C
2017	16.6 °C
2018	17.4 °C
2019	16.8 °C
2020	16.8 °C
2021	17.5 °C
2022	17.6 °C
2024	17.5 °C
2025	17.2 °C
2026	17.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1900, Haverhill's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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