When to plant in College Park, MD

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 22

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 10

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 29

1 year in 10 by Oct 17

Frost-free days

203

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Beltsville · 5.5 km away · station 44 m, town 21 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 25 – Mar 11	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 16
Sweet pepper	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 23
Peas	—	Mar 14 – Apr 11	May 8
Bush beans	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 4
Carrot	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 23
Beet	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 13
Potato	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 2
Kale	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 3
Broccoli	Jan 31 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 13
Cucumber	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 11
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 6
Winter squash	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jul 11
Sweet corn	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 14
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	Jun 12
Garlic	—	Oct 15 – Nov 12 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 14 – Apr 11	Apr 21
Basil	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 18

Plan all 65 crops for College Park

College Park'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
1948	Apr 23
1949	Apr 29
1950	May 9
1951	Apr 24
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 22
1954	May 5
1955	Apr 10
1956	May 25
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 26
1959	Apr 13
1960	May 3
1961	Apr 21
1962	May 10
1963	May 13
1964	Apr 27
1965	Apr 17
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	May 8
1969	Apr 25
1970	May 7
1971	Apr 30
1972	Apr 28
1973	Apr 16
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 23
1976	Apr 14
1977	Apr 30
1978	Apr 25
1979	Apr 20
1980	Apr 18
1981	Apr 26
1982	Apr 15
1983	Apr 21
1984	Apr 10
1985	Apr 11
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 28
1988	Apr 17
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 4
1992	Apr 4
1993	Apr 23
1996	Apr 18
1997	Apr 15
1998	Apr 7
1999	Mar 31
2000	Apr 10
2001	Apr 30
2002	Apr 8
2003	Apr 1
2004	Apr 6
2005	Apr 17
2006	Mar 23
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 3
2009	Apr 13
2010	Mar 27
2011	Apr 6
2012	Apr 3
2013	Apr 4
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 14
2017	Mar 24
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 29
2023	Apr 10
2024	Mar 30
2025	Apr 9
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1948	175
1949	180
1950	170
1951	184
1952	176
1953	168
1954	155
1955	195
1956	118
1957	159
1958	162
1959	185
1960	170
1961	166
1962	167
1963	133
1964	161
1965	170
1966	148
1967	166
1968	171
1969	175
1970	193
1971	188
1972	164
1973	184
1974	148
1975	190
1976	180
1977	170
1978	166
1979	173
1980	178
1981	170
1982	184
1984	206
1985	200
1986	168
1987	159
1988	174
1989	193
1990	183
1991	199
1992	198
1993	183
1996	198
1997	190
1998	211
1999	217
2000	201
2001	161
2002	206
2003	205
2004	216
2005	207
2006	203
2007	207
2008	199
2009	204
2010	220
2011	207
2012	192
2014	204
2015	196
2016	194
2017	231
2018	186
2019	212
2020	190
2021	194
2022	173
2023	205
2024	227
2025	211

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1942	19.9 °C
1943	20.0 °C
1945	19.7 °C
1946	18.9 °C
1947	19.4 °C
1948	19.5 °C
1949	19.3 °C
1950	18.0 °C
1951	19.0 °C
1952	19.7 °C
1953	19.9 °C
1954	19.3 °C
1955	20.0 °C
1956	18.4 °C
1957	19.8 °C
1958	18.9 °C
1959	20.4 °C
1960	19.5 °C
1961	19.2 °C
1962	19.0 °C
1963	18.5 °C
1964	19.2 °C
1965	19.5 °C
1966	19.0 °C
1967	18.2 °C
1968	19.3 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1970	19.8 °C
1971	18.9 °C
1972	18.8 °C
1973	20.1 °C
1974	19.1 °C
1975	19.5 °C
1976	19.4 °C
1977	20.4 °C
1978	19.8 °C
1979	18.9 °C
1980	20.2 °C
1981	19.4 °C
1982	19.2 °C
1983	19.6 °C
1984	19.1 °C
1985	19.9 °C
1986	20.2 °C
1987	20.5 °C
1988	20.0 °C
1989	19.7 °C
1990	19.7 °C
1991	21.2 °C
1992	19.0 °C
1996	20.0 °C
1997	19.5 °C
1998	21.3 °C
1999	20.8 °C
2000	19.7 °C
2001	19.9 °C
2002	21.0 °C
2003	19.7 °C
2004	20.7 °C
2005	20.7 °C
2006	20.7 °C
2007	20.7 °C
2008	20.3 °C
2009	20.3 °C
2010	22.0 °C
2011	21.7 °C
2012	21.1 °C
2013	20.3 °C
2014	20.0 °C
2015	21.1 °C
2016	21.0 °C
2017	20.8 °C
2018	21.3 °C
2019	21.8 °C
2020	20.3 °C
2021	21.0 °C
2022	20.8 °C
2023	20.5 °C
2024	21.5 °C
2025	21.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1948, College Park's last spring frost has come about 3 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 6 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

University Park Riverdale Park Berwyn Heights Hyattsville East Riverdale Edmonston