When to plant in Van Buren, ME

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

Safe to plant out

Jun 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 23

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 21

1 year in 10 by Sep 9

Frost-free days

123

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Van Buren 2 · 1.1 km away · station 139 m, town 147 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	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Jul 30
Sweet pepper	Mar 27 – Apr 10	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Aug 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 7
Peas	—	Apr 28 – May 26	Jun 22
Bush beans	—	May 29 – Jun 19	Jul 18
Carrot	—	May 7 – Jun 18	Jul 6
Beet	—	May 7 – Jun 18	Jun 26
Potato	—	May 7 – May 28	Jul 16
Kale	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 5 – May 19	Jun 17
Broccoli	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 27
Cucumber	May 8 – May 15	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Jul 25
Summer squash and zucchini	May 8 – May 15	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Jul 20
Winter squash	May 8 – May 15	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Aug 24
Sweet corn	—	May 29 – Jun 19	Jul 28
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jul 27
Garlic	—	Sep 7 – Oct 5 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 28 – May 26	Jun 5
Basil	Apr 24 – May 8	Jun 5 – Jun 19	Aug 1

Plan all 65 crops for Van Buren

Van Buren'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
1967	Jun 1
1974	Jun 7
1975	Jun 9
1976	May 28
1977	May 19
1978	May 23
1979	May 8
1980	Jun 9
1981	Jun 1
1982	Jun 4
1983	Jul 11
1984	Jun 4
1985	Jun 28
1986	Jun 20
1987	Jun 21
1988	Jun 7
1989	May 10
1990	Jun 1
1991	May 23
1992	Jun 5
1993	May 19
1994	Jun 5
1995	May 10
1996	May 16
1997	Jun 2
1998	Jun 2
1999	May 15
2000	Jun 5
2001	May 8
2002	Jun 4
2003	Jun 4
2004	Jun 5
2005	May 14
2006	May 8
2007	May 23
2008	May 14
2009	May 23
2010	May 14
2011	May 9
2012	May 18
2013	May 28
2014	May 14
2015	May 24
2016	May 17
2017	May 21
2018	Jun 11
2019	May 28
2020	Jun 2
2022	May 24
2023	May 23
2024	Jun 2
2025	May 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1974	101
1975	97
1976	97
1977	123
1978	96
1979	134
1980	91
1981	117
1982	95
1983	64
1984	95
1985	62
1986	69
1987	66
1988	100
1989	116
1990	107
1991	121
1992	110
1993	123
1995	115
1996	129
1997	50
1998	125
1999	142
2000	112
2001	143
2002	87
2003	121
2004	100
2005	150
2006	150
2007	116
2008	127
2009	116
2010	142
2011	149
2012	132
2013	111
2014	127
2015	124
2016	134
2017	131
2018	90
2019	112
2020	107
2022	117
2023	153
2024	136
2025	122

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1967	12.1 °C
1974	11.8 °C
1975	12.9 °C
1976	12.6 °C
1977	11.8 °C
1978	12.2 °C
1979	13.1 °C
1980	12.3 °C
1981	12.9 °C
1982	11.6 °C
1983	12.7 °C
1984	11.4 °C
1985	11.8 °C
1986	11.0 °C
1987	11.8 °C
1988	13.2 °C
1989	13.3 °C
1990	13.3 °C
1991	13.0 °C
1992	12.6 °C
1993	12.8 °C
1995	12.4 °C
1996	12.6 °C
1997	11.8 °C
1998	13.7 °C
1999	14.6 °C
2000	12.0 °C
2001	13.7 °C
2002	12.7 °C
2003	11.9 °C
2004	12.2 °C
2005	13.0 °C
2006	13.5 °C
2007	12.2 °C
2008	13.2 °C
2009	12.9 °C
2010	14.2 °C
2011	13.1 °C
2012	13.4 °C
2013	13.1 °C
2014	13.3 °C
2015	13.6 °C
2016	13.3 °C
2017	13.5 °C
2018	13.2 °C
2019	12.5 °C
2020	12.8 °C
2022	13.7 °C
2023	14.0 °C
2024	14.6 °C
2025	13.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1967, Van Buren's last spring frost has come about 3 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 7 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Van Buren 2 (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Limestone Madawaska (near Caribou)Caribou Frenchville Madawaska Fort Fairfield