When to plant in Salisbury, MD

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 13

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 5

1 year in 10 by Oct 28

Frost-free days

221

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Salisbury · 1.0 km away · station 3 m, town 7 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 16 – Mar 2	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 7
Sweet pepper	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 12
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 29 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 14
Peas	—	Feb 25 – Mar 25	Apr 21
Bush beans	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	May 26
Carrot	—	Mar 13 – Apr 24	May 12
Beet	—	Mar 13 – Apr 24	May 2
Potato	—	Mar 13 – Apr 3	May 22
Kale	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 17
Broccoli	Jan 22 – Feb 5	Mar 5 – Mar 26	May 4
Cucumber	Mar 16 – Mar 23	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 2
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 16 – Mar 23	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 28
Winter squash	Mar 16 – Mar 23	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jul 2
Sweet corn	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 5
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 5 – Mar 26	Jun 3
Garlic	—	Oct 22 – Nov 19 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 25 – Mar 25	Apr 4
Basil	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	Jun 9

Plan all 65 crops for Salisbury

Salisbury'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
1907	Apr 22
1908	Apr 17
1909	Apr 30
1910	Apr 14
1911	May 6
1912	Apr 9
1913	May 12
1914	Apr 14
1915	Apr 15
1916	Apr 17
1917	Apr 15
1918	Apr 7
1919	Apr 3
1920	May 6
1922	Apr 30
1923	Apr 10
1925	Apr 22
1926	Apr 27
1927	Apr 12
1928	Apr 18
1929	Apr 23
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 30
1932	Apr 17
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 29
1935	Mar 27
1936	Apr 25
1938	Apr 11
1939	Apr 14
1940	May 11
1941	Apr 9
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 7
1946	Apr 18
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 29
1949	Apr 5
1950	Apr 16
1951	Mar 27
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 25
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 5
1959	Mar 29
1960	Apr 20
1961	Apr 21
1962	Apr 4
1963	Mar 24
1964	Apr 5
1965	Apr 5
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 12
1968	Apr 7
1969	Apr 13
1970	Apr 1
1971	Apr 11
1972	Apr 10
1973	Apr 15
1974	Apr 11
1975	Apr 14
1976	Apr 12
1977	Apr 10
1978	Apr 9
1979	Mar 28
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 16
1982	Apr 12
1983	Mar 30
1984	Apr 2
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 25
1987	Apr 1
1988	Mar 23
1989	Apr 13
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 3
1992	Apr 4
1993	Mar 22
1994	Mar 18
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 10
1998	Mar 25
1999	Mar 27
2000	Mar 19
2001	Apr 30
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 2
2004	Mar 24
2005	Mar 22
2006	Mar 26
2007	Apr 11
2008	May 14
2009	Mar 25
2010	Mar 27
2011	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1908	179
1909	166
1910	197
1911	179
1912	190
1913	162
1914	197
1915	178
1916	176
1917	180
1918	198
1919	217
1922	173
1925	171
1926	177
1927	208
1928	191
1929	170
1930	175
1931	188
1932	199
1933	181
1934	182
1935	194
1936	184
1938	203
1939	184
1940	160
1943	186
1944	192
1945	203
1946	209
1947	183
1949	205
1950	203
1951	221
1952	193
1953	169
1954	204
1955	196
1956	199
1957	179
1958	184
1959	213
1960	184
1961	189
1962	203
1963	224
1964	188
1965	206
1966	172
1967	200
1968	227
1969	193
1970	229
1971	207
1972	192
1973	185
1974	175
1975	199
1976	189
1977	190
1978	191
1979	222
1980	192
1981	186
1982	188
1983	211
1984	219
1985	236
1986	233
1987	219
1988	204
1990	190
1991	215
1993	226
1994	238
1996	207
1997	195
1998	224
1999	235
2000	196
2001	181
2002	209
2003	221
2004	229
2005	234
2006	222
2007	210
2008	169
2009	226
2010	245
2011	215

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1906	21.6 °C
1907	18.7 °C
1908	20.6 °C
1909	20.0 °C
1910	20.3 °C
1911	21.1 °C
1912	20.9 °C
1913	20.8 °C
1914	20.8 °C
1915	20.8 °C
1916	20.1 °C
1917	19.5 °C
1918	20.2 °C
1919	20.1 °C
1920	19.4 °C
1921	21.4 °C
1922	20.7 °C
1923	20.0 °C
1925	21.0 °C
1926	20.0 °C
1927	19.4 °C
1928	20.3 °C
1929	20.5 °C
1930	21.6 °C
1931	21.0 °C
1932	20.4 °C
1933	21.2 °C
1934	21.3 °C
1935	20.0 °C
1936	21.0 °C
1938	20.6 °C
1939	21.0 °C
1940	19.2 °C
1943	21.6 °C
1944	21.7 °C
1945	21.5 °C
1946	20.4 °C
1947	21.3 °C
1949	21.2 °C
1950	20.0 °C
1951	20.7 °C
1952	21.4 °C
1953	21.3 °C
1954	21.1 °C
1955	21.6 °C
1956	20.1 °C
1957	21.8 °C
1958	20.4 °C
1959	21.8 °C
1960	21.1 °C
1961	20.6 °C
1962	20.4 °C
1963	20.3 °C
1964	20.5 °C
1965	20.7 °C
1966	20.4 °C
1967	19.8 °C
1968	20.9 °C
1969	20.9 °C
1970	21.2 °C
1971	20.5 °C
1972	20.1 °C
1973	21.3 °C
1974	20.9 °C
1975	20.8 °C
1976	20.5 °C
1977	21.2 °C
1978	20.2 °C
1979	20.1 °C
1980	21.1 °C
1981	20.6 °C
1982	20.2 °C
1983	20.4 °C
1984	20.3 °C
1985	21.3 °C
1986	21.3 °C
1987	21.7 °C
1988	21.0 °C
1990	20.8 °C
1991	22.2 °C
1993	21.9 °C
1994	21.8 °C
1996	20.8 °C
1997	20.4 °C
1998	21.9 °C
1999	21.7 °C
2001	19.2 °C
2002	22.4 °C
2003	21.1 °C
2004	22.1 °C
2005	21.7 °C
2006	21.9 °C
2007	21.8 °C
2008	21.6 °C
2009	21.4 °C
2010	23.4 °C
2011	22.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1907, Salisbury'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 Salisbury (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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