When to plant in West Scarborough, ME

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

Safe to plant out

May 11

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 1

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 11

1 year in 10 by Oct 1

Frost-free days

164

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Portland Jetport · 10.5 km away · station 13 m, town 18 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my West Scarborough plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 20 – Apr 3	May 15 – May 29	Jul 9
Sweet pepper	Mar 6 – Mar 20	May 15 – May 29	Jul 14
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 7 – Mar 14	Apr 11 – Apr 25	May 21
Peas	—	Apr 11 – May 9	Jun 5
Bush beans	—	May 10 – May 31	Jun 29
Carrot	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 21
Beet	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 11
Potato	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jul 1
Kale	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	May 31
Broccoli	Feb 28 – Mar 14	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 10
Cucumber	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Jul 4
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Jun 29
Winter squash	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Aug 3
Sweet corn	—	May 10 – May 31	Jul 9
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jul 10
Garlic	—	Sep 27 – Oct 25 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 11 – May 9	May 19
Basil	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 15 – May 29	Jul 11

Plan all 65 crops for West Scarborough

West Scarborough'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
1941	Apr 26
1942	May 11
1943	May 6
1944	May 19
1945	May 12
1946	May 9
1947	May 16
1948	May 4
1949	May 26
1950	May 9
1951	May 19
1952	May 6
1953	Apr 22
1954	May 14
1955	May 20
1956	May 26
1957	May 17
1958	May 3
1959	May 18
1960	May 3
1961	May 31
1962	May 13
1963	May 25
1964	May 4
1965	May 15
1966	May 14
1967	May 14
1968	May 8
1969	May 27
1970	Apr 20
1971	Apr 24
1972	May 26
1973	Apr 15
1974	May 5
1975	Apr 30
1976	Apr 15
1977	May 8
1978	May 6
1979	May 7
1980	May 5
1981	May 18
1982	Apr 30
1983	Apr 14
1984	May 3
1985	May 9
1986	May 10
1987	May 9
1988	Apr 26
1989	Apr 29
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 20
1992	May 12
1993	Apr 29
1994	Apr 23
1995	May 2
1996	Apr 29
1997	May 9
1998	May 14
1999	Apr 25
2000	May 3
2001	May 7
2002	May 20
2003	May 4
2004	Apr 29
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 30
2007	Apr 26
2008	May 2
2009	Apr 30
2010	May 11
2011	Apr 23
2012	Apr 30
2013	May 1
2014	Apr 20
2015	Apr 25
2016	Apr 30
2017	May 9
2018	Apr 23
2019	Apr 29
2020	Apr 23
2021	Apr 22
2022	May 9
2023	May 18
2024	Apr 27

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1941	146
1942	140
1943	156
1944	128
1945	140
1946	146
1947	130
1948	135
1949	122
1950	131
1951	132
1952	154
1953	154
1954	145
1955	125
1956	115
1957	130
1958	152
1959	123
1960	151
1961	109
1962	130
1963	111
1964	134
1965	135
1966	135
1967	145
1968	150
1969	141
1970	181
1971	166
1972	136
1973	159
1974	151
1975	155
1976	163
1977	151
1978	161
1979	135
1980	157
1981	147
1982	162
1983	179
1984	154
1985	164
1986	152
1987	148
1988	163
1989	148
1990	184
1991	175
1992	140
1993	154
1994	170
1995	149
1996	158
1997	145
1998	142
1999	163
2000	148
2001	153
2002	141
2003	155
2004	158
2005	169
2006	166
2007	173
2008	168
2009	163
2010	151
2011	166
2012	165
2013	176
2014	196
2015	174
2016	167
2017	175
2018	177
2019	158
2020	168
2021	184
2022	152
2023	165
2024	172

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1941	15.2 °C
1942	15.0 °C
1943	14.4 °C
1944	15.1 °C
1945	14.8 °C
1946	14.1 °C
1947	14.8 °C
1948	14.7 °C
1949	15.7 °C
1950	14.1 °C
1951	15.0 °C
1952	15.5 °C
1953	14.9 °C
1954	13.9 °C
1955	15.5 °C
1956	13.3 °C
1957	15.0 °C
1958	14.2 °C
1959	15.4 °C
1960	14.9 °C
1961	14.8 °C
1962	13.7 °C
1963	14.2 °C
1964	14.0 °C
1965	14.6 °C
1966	14.0 °C
1967	14.3 °C
1968	15.0 °C
1969	15.4 °C
1970	15.8 °C
1971	15.4 °C
1972	14.1 °C
1973	15.7 °C
1974	14.8 °C
1975	14.8 °C
1976	14.8 °C
1977	14.5 °C
1978	14.6 °C
1979	14.8 °C
1980	15.7 °C
1981	15.4 °C
1982	14.4 °C
1983	15.6 °C
1984	15.3 °C
1985	15.3 °C
1986	14.7 °C
1987	15.3 °C
1988	15.9 °C
1989	15.4 °C
1990	15.4 °C
1991	16.3 °C
1992	14.5 °C
1993	15.7 °C
1994	15.6 °C
1995	14.8 °C
1996	14.8 °C
1997	14.8 °C
1998	15.9 °C
1999	16.3 °C
2000	15.1 °C
2001	15.8 °C
2002	15.7 °C
2003	15.2 °C
2004	15.1 °C
2005	15.8 °C
2006	16.0 °C
2007	15.5 °C
2008	15.6 °C
2009	15.4 °C
2010	17.1 °C
2011	16.1 °C
2012	16.4 °C
2013	15.8 °C
2014	15.5 °C
2015	16.5 °C
2016	16.3 °C
2017	16.1 °C
2018	16.5 °C
2019	15.9 °C
2020	16.7 °C
2021	16.7 °C
2022	16.4 °C
2023	16.0 °C
2024	16.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1941, West Scarborough's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 5 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Scarborough Old Orchard Beach Saco South Portland Gardens Biddeford Westbrook