When to plant in Chesapeake Ranch Estates, MD

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 14

1 year in 10 by Nov 4

Frost-free days

226

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Patuxent River Nas · 5.1 km away · station 12 m, town 30 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 13 – Feb 27	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 4
Sweet pepper	Jan 30 – Feb 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 9
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 28 – Feb 4	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 13
Peas	—	Mar 4 – Apr 1	Apr 28
Bush beans	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	May 23
Carrot	—	Mar 19 – Apr 30	May 18
Beet	—	Mar 19 – Apr 30	May 8
Potato	—	Mar 19 – Apr 9	May 28
Kale	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 23
Broccoli	Jan 21 – Feb 4	Mar 4 – Mar 25	May 3
Cucumber	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 25
Winter squash	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 29
Sweet corn	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 2
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 4 – Mar 25	Jun 2
Garlic	—	Oct 31 – Nov 28 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 4 – Apr 1	Apr 11
Basil	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 6

Plan all 65 crops for Chesapeake Ranch Estates

Chesapeake Ranch Estates'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
1946	Mar 12
1947	Mar 28
1948	Mar 29
1949	Mar 19
1950	Apr 15
1951	Mar 27
1952	Mar 16
1953	Apr 20
1954	Apr 4
1955	Mar 29
1956	Apr 1
1957	Apr 13
1958	Mar 24
1959	Mar 29
1960	Mar 27
1961	Apr 3
1962	Mar 9
1963	Mar 23
1964	Apr 5
1965	Apr 3
1966	Mar 29
1967	Mar 25
1968	Mar 24
1969	Apr 1
1970	Mar 30
1971	Mar 31
1972	Apr 9
1973	Mar 1
1974	Mar 26
1975	Apr 5
1976	Mar 18
1977	Apr 9
1978	Mar 18
1979	Mar 19
1980	Apr 17
1981	Mar 26
1982	Apr 12
1983	Mar 25
1984	Mar 13
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 25
1987	Apr 6
1988	Mar 23
1989	Mar 20
1990	Apr 8
1991	Mar 17
1992	Apr 4
1993	Mar 20
1994	Mar 18
1995	Mar 11
1996	Mar 23
1997	Apr 11
1998	Apr 3
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 1
2004	Apr 5
2005	Mar 22
2007	Apr 11
2008	Mar 24
2009	Mar 25
2010	Mar 9
2011	Apr 6
2012	Mar 11
2013	Apr 3
2014	Mar 27
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 23
2018	Mar 27
2019	Apr 1
2020	Mar 8
2021	Mar 21
2022	Mar 30
2023	Mar 21
2024	Mar 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1945	326
1946	264
1947	234
1948	255
1949	244
1950	219
1951	220
1952	227
1953	199
1954	235
1955	241
1956	235
1957	211
1958	250
1959	232
1960	225
1961	248
1962	274
1963	252
1964	229
1965	208
1966	244
1967	225
1968	240
1969	227
1970	237
1971	221
1972	227
1973	261
1974	207
1975	249
1976	228
1977	230
1978	252
1979	254
1980	215
1981	207
1982	240
1983	234
1984	246
1985	235
1986	232
1987	213
1988	244
1989	243
1990	224
1991	232
1992	225
1993	265
1994	286
1995	242
1996	231
1997	194
1998	215
2001	204
2002	210
2003	221
2004	224
2005	240
2007	231
2008	237
2009	226
2010	262
2011	218
2012	256
2013	205
2014	225
2015	223
2016	215
2017	232
2018	228
2019	221
2021	243
2022	231
2023	236
2024	252

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1945	21.1 °C
1946	20.4 °C
1947	21.0 °C
1948	20.7 °C
1949	21.2 °C
1950	20.1 °C
1951	20.7 °C
1952	21.6 °C
1953	21.6 °C
1954	21.5 °C
1955	21.9 °C
1956	20.4 °C
1957	21.6 °C
1958	20.6 °C
1959	22.2 °C
1960	21.1 °C
1961	20.4 °C
1962	20.4 °C
1963	20.5 °C
1964	20.8 °C
1965	20.5 °C
1966	20.8 °C
1967	19.6 °C
1968	21.2 °C
1969	21.6 °C
1970	21.8 °C
1971	21.4 °C
1972	20.6 °C
1973	21.7 °C
1974	20.7 °C
1975	20.8 °C
1976	20.3 °C
1977	21.4 °C
1978	20.6 °C
1979	20.4 °C
1980	22.1 °C
1981	21.2 °C
1982	20.8 °C
1983	21.6 °C
1984	20.8 °C
1985	21.7 °C
1986	21.6 °C
1987	21.2 °C
1988	20.3 °C
1989	21.0 °C
1990	21.0 °C
1991	22.4 °C
1992	20.2 °C
1993	22.0 °C
1994	21.8 °C
1995	22.4 °C
1996	20.9 °C
1997	19.4 °C
1998	21.6 °C
2001	20.4 °C
2002	21.6 °C
2003	20.6 °C
2004	21.1 °C
2005	21.2 °C
2007	21.2 °C
2008	21.1 °C
2009	21.1 °C
2010	23.1 °C
2011	22.4 °C
2012	22.3 °C
2013	20.9 °C
2014	20.5 °C
2015	21.5 °C
2016	21.8 °C
2017	21.5 °C
2018	23.3 °C
2019	23.1 °C
2020	21.6 °C
2021	22.2 °C
2022	22.5 °C
2023	22.6 °C
2024	23.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1946, Chesapeake Ranch Estates's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Patuxent River Nas (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point Lusby Drum Point Solomons California Lexington Park