When to plant in Madison, ME

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

Safe to plant out

May 21

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 10

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 3

1 year in 10 by Sep 20

Frost-free days

148

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Madison · 0.7 km away · station 67 m, town 92 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 26 – Apr 9	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 15
Sweet pepper	Mar 12 – Mar 26	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 17 – Mar 24	Apr 21 – May 5	May 31
Peas	—	Apr 21 – May 19	Jun 15
Bush beans	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 3
Carrot	—	Apr 29 – Jun 10	Jun 28
Beet	—	Apr 29 – Jun 10	Jun 18
Potato	—	Apr 29 – May 20	Jul 8
Kale	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 10
Broccoli	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 20
Cucumber	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 5
Winter squash	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Aug 9
Sweet corn	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 13
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jul 20
Garlic	—	Sep 19 – Oct 17 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 21 – May 19	May 29
Basil	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 17

Plan all 65 crops for Madison

Madison'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
1905	May 24
1906	Jun 12
1907	May 26
1908	May 9
1909	May 5
1910	Jun 5
1911	May 6
1912	May 3
1913	May 21
1914	May 17
1915	Jun 3
1916	May 14
1917	May 8
1918	May 16
1919	May 16
1920	May 16
1921	May 13
1922	May 1
1923	May 24
1928	May 15
1929	May 23
1930	May 12
1931	May 18
1934	May 24
1935	May 26
1936	May 31
1937	May 15
1938	May 9
1939	May 27
1940	May 11
1941	May 19
1942	May 12
1943	May 19
1944	May 21
1945	Jun 3
1946	May 9
1947	May 18
1948	May 16
1949	May 26
1950	Jun 12
1951	May 19
1952	May 15
1953	May 4
1954	May 27
1955	May 17
1956	May 26
1957	May 19
1958	May 15
1959	May 19
1960	May 3
1961	Jun 16
1962	May 28
1963	May 13
1964	May 4
1965	May 15
1966	May 14
1967	Jun 1
1968	May 14
1969	May 27
1970	May 8
1971	May 15
1972	May 28
1973	Jun 3
1974	May 21
1975	May 1
1976	May 5
1978	May 6
1979	May 7
1980	May 11
1981	May 18
1982	May 22
1983	May 19
1984	May 19
1985	May 15
1986	May 10
1987	May 9
1988	May 9
1989	Apr 30
1991	May 21
1992	May 19
1993	May 15
1994	May 28
1995	May 8
1996	May 14
1997	May 24
1998	Apr 29
1999	May 12
2000	May 3
2001	May 7
2002	May 20
2003	May 4
2004	Apr 29
2005	May 14
2006	May 8
2007	May 14
2008	May 3
2009	May 19
2010	May 13
2011	Apr 24
2012	May 7
2013	May 15
2014	May 9
2015	Apr 26
2016	May 1
2017	Apr 25
2018	May 12
2019	May 9
2020	Jun 1
2021	May 7
2022	May 10
2023	May 19
2024	Apr 29
2025	May 1
2026	May 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1905	136
1907	135
1908	147
1909	168
1910	109
1911	130
1912	158
1913	116
1914	134
1915	110
1916	140
1917	125
1918	117
1919	123
1920	127
1921	153
1922	147
1929	119
1930	139
1934	130
1935	110
1936	117
1937	140
1938	116
1939	117
1940	138
1941	116
1942	139
1943	122
1944	125
1945	105
1946	126
1947	125
1948	123
1949	121
1950	97
1951	130
1952	131
1953	142
1954	132
1955	119
1956	115
1957	145
1958	140
1959	119
1960	151
1961	105
1962	115
1963	123
1964	134
1965	135
1966	135
1967	126
1968	143
1969	117
1970	150
1971	132
1972	115
1973	110
1974	125
1975	136
1976	142
1978	144
1980	136
1981	140
1982	133
1983	144
1984	125
1985	149
1986	140
1987	141
1988	120
1989	147
1991	123
1992	127
1993	127
1994	131
1995	131
1996	142
1997	141
1998	159
1999	148
2000	148
2001	154
2002	141
2003	155
2004	159
2005	159
2006	151
2007	155
2008	155
2009	129
2010	149
2011	164
2012	154
2013	114
2014	132
2015	164
2016	162
2017	160
2018	155
2019	146
2020	110
2021	169
2022	145
2023	157
2024	168
2025	161

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1905	14.0 °C
1906	14.1 °C
1907	13.2 °C
1908	14.9 °C
1909	13.8 °C
1910	14.3 °C
1911	14.5 °C
1912	13.7 °C
1913	13.7 °C
1914	13.5 °C
1915	14.2 °C
1916	14.7 °C
1917	13.7 °C
1918	14.4 °C
1919	14.2 °C
1920	14.4 °C
1921	16.1 °C
1922	15.3 °C
1923	12.8 °C
1929	14.2 °C
1930	14.9 °C
1931	15.1 °C
1934	14.6 °C
1935	13.9 °C
1936	13.7 °C
1937	16.1 °C
1938	15.2 °C
1940	13.8 °C
1941	15.7 °C
1942	15.3 °C
1943	13.9 °C
1944	15.5 °C
1945	14.9 °C
1946	14.5 °C
1947	14.5 °C
1948	14.3 °C
1949	15.8 °C
1950	13.9 °C
1951	14.6 °C
1952	15.1 °C
1953	14.9 °C
1954	14.0 °C
1955	15.7 °C
1957	14.6 °C
1958	14.2 °C
1959	15.9 °C
1960	15.3 °C
1961	15.1 °C
1962	13.9 °C
1963	14.7 °C
1964	14.1 °C
1965	14.7 °C
1966	14.2 °C
1967	14.2 °C
1968	13.9 °C
1969	13.8 °C
1970	14.4 °C
1971	14.0 °C
1972	13.4 °C
1973	14.5 °C
1974	13.3 °C
1975	13.9 °C
1976	14.2 °C
1978	13.8 °C
1979	14.6 °C
1980	14.7 °C
1981	14.9 °C
1982	13.6 °C
1983	14.3 °C
1984	14.4 °C
1985	13.9 °C
1986	13.6 °C
1987	14.5 °C
1988	14.5 °C
1989	14.3 °C
1990	13.8 °C
1991	15.0 °C
1992	13.5 °C
1993	14.7 °C
1994	14.5 °C
1995	14.1 °C
1996	14.4 °C
1997	13.7 °C
1998	15.6 °C
1999	16.1 °C
2000	13.9 °C
2001	15.5 °C
2002	14.8 °C
2003	14.7 °C
2004	14.4 °C
2005	15.0 °C
2006	15.4 °C
2007	14.4 °C
2008	14.7 °C
2009	14.2 °C
2010	15.8 °C
2011	14.9 °C
2012	15.3 °C
2013	14.6 °C
2014	14.4 °C
2015	15.0 °C
2016	15.0 °C
2017	14.7 °C
2018	15.0 °C
2019	14.2 °C
2020	14.8 °C
2021	15.6 °C
2022	15.0 °C
2023	14.9 °C
2024	15.8 °C
2025	15.0 °C
2026	15.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1905, Madison's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown 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 Madison (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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