When to plant in Coldwater, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Oct 1

Frost-free days

161

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Coldwater St School · 2.5 km away · station 300 m, town 294 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Coldwater plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 16 – May 30	Jul 10
Sweet pepper	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 16 – May 30	Jul 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 28 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 14
Peas	—	Apr 3 – May 1	May 28
Bush beans	—	May 9 – May 30	Jun 28
Carrot	—	Apr 13 – May 25	Jun 12
Beet	—	Apr 13 – May 25	Jun 2
Potato	—	Apr 13 – May 4	Jun 22
Kale	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 23
Broccoli	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jun 3
Cucumber	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jul 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jun 30
Winter squash	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Aug 4
Sweet corn	—	May 9 – May 30	Jul 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jul 3
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 3 – May 1	May 11
Basil	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 16 – May 30	Jul 12

Plan all 65 crops for Coldwater

Coldwater'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
1898	Apr 27
1899	Apr 16
1900	May 6
1901	Apr 20
1902	May 28
1903	May 4
1904	May 16
1905	May 9
1906	May 10
1907	May 21
1908	May 3
1909	May 11
1910	May 14
1911	May 5
1912	Apr 25
1913	May 11
1914	Apr 21
1915	May 27
1916	Apr 15
1917	May 10
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 27
1920	May 15
1921	May 17
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 13
1924	May 22
1925	May 26
1926	May 23
1927	May 17
1928	May 13
1929	May 20
1930	Apr 26
1931	May 24
1932	Apr 28
1933	May 4
1934	May 12
1935	May 15
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	May 13
1939	May 12
1940	May 18
1941	Apr 26
1942	May 5
1944	May 6
1945	May 19
1946	May 13
1947	May 10
1948	May 8
1949	May 11
1950	May 8
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 21
1956	May 1
1957	May 6
1958	May 26
1959	Apr 23
1960	May 8
1961	May 27
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 25
1965	Apr 29
1966	May 10
1967	May 3
1968	May 18
1969	Apr 30
1970	May 6
1971	May 13
1972	May 10
1973	May 18
1974	May 10
1975	Apr 26
1976	May 12
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	May 5
1980	Apr 26
1981	May 7
1982	Apr 28
1983	May 9
1984	May 16
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 4
1987	May 5
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 12
1992	May 25
1993	Apr 23
1995	Apr 24
1996	May 13
1997	May 17
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 26
2002	May 19
2003	Apr 24
2004	May 4
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 26
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 23
2010	May 10
2011	Apr 21
2012	Apr 29
2013	May 13
2014	May 16
2015	Apr 28
2016	Apr 15
2017	May 9
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 27
2020	May 12
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 28
2023	May 21
2024	Apr 26
2025	May 10
2026	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	170
1899	163
1900	134
1901	151
1902	144
1903	166
1904	139
1905	155
1906	152
1907	127
1908	151
1909	143
1910	145
1911	171
1912	177
1913	154
1914	186
1915	135
1916	156
1917	148
1918	128
1919	167
1920	166
1921	148
1922	166
1923	144
1924	151
1925	133
1926	125
1927	150
1929	121
1930	157
1931	139
1932	168
1933	161
1934	154
1935	135
1936	185
1937	179
1938	146
1940	130
1941	182
1942	142
1944	140
1945	133
1946	140
1947	135
1948	158
1949	165
1950	138
1951	158
1952	169
1953	168
1954	124
1956	141
1957	143
1958	128
1959	146
1960	164
1961	124
1962	152
1963	142
1964	162
1965	157
1966	138
1967	168
1968	155
1969	166
1970	145
1971	133
1972	151
1973	153
1974	134
1975	158
1976	134
1977	148
1978	158
1979	157
1980	160
1981	148
1982	170
1983	137
1985	189
1986	158
1987	148
1988	158
1990	175
1991	161
1992	144
1993	164
1995	151
1996	142
1997	153
1998	176
2000	164
2002	146
2003	159
2004	153
2005	174
2006	168
2008	156
2009	160
2010	164
2011	183
2012	161
2013	161
2014	148
2015	171
2016	192
2017	169
2018	169
2019	172
2020	155
2021	162
2022	161
2023	153
2024	173
2025	167

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	16.6 °C
1898	17.5 °C
1899	17.7 °C
1900	18.3 °C
1901	17.7 °C
1902	16.8 °C
1903	17.6 °C
1904	16.6 °C
1905	17.5 °C
1906	18.4 °C
1907	15.5 °C
1908	18.3 °C
1909	16.9 °C
1910	17.4 °C
1911	18.7 °C
1912	18.0 °C
1913	18.4 °C
1914	18.4 °C
1915	17.0 °C
1916	18.1 °C
1917	16.2 °C
1918	17.6 °C
1919	18.6 °C
1920	16.9 °C
1921	19.6 °C
1922	18.4 °C
1923	17.0 °C
1924	15.6 °C
1925	17.7 °C
1926	16.6 °C
1927	16.6 °C
1928	16.3 °C
1929	16.6 °C
1930	18.4 °C
1931	18.7 °C
1932	17.9 °C
1933	19.5 °C
1934	19.8 °C
1935	17.4 °C
1936	19.4 °C
1937	18.8 °C
1938	18.2 °C
1939	17.9 °C
1940	16.1 °C
1941	18.4 °C
1942	17.3 °C
1943	16.1 °C
1944	18.3 °C
1945	16.2 °C
1946	16.6 °C
1947	16.7 °C
1948	17.4 °C
1949	17.3 °C
1950	16.1 °C
1951	16.5 °C
1952	17.5 °C
1953	17.8 °C
1954	17.5 °C
1956	16.8 °C
1957	17.0 °C
1958	16.7 °C
1959	18.7 °C
1960	17.3 °C
1961	16.6 °C
1962	17.3 °C
1963	16.2 °C
1964	17.2 °C
1965	16.7 °C
1966	16.0 °C
1967	15.8 °C
1968	16.8 °C
1969	16.8 °C
1970	17.1 °C
1971	16.7 °C
1972	16.3 °C
1973	17.0 °C
1974	16.3 °C
1975	16.3 °C
1976	16.3 °C
1977	17.7 °C
1978	17.0 °C
1979	16.0 °C
1980	17.1 °C
1981	16.6 °C
1982	16.3 °C
1983	16.7 °C
1984	16.6 °C
1985	17.5 °C
1986	17.4 °C
1987	18.2 °C
1988	17.7 °C
1989	16.6 °C
1990	17.1 °C
1991	18.5 °C
1992	15.7 °C
1993	16.7 °C
1994	17.0 °C
1996	16.4 °C
1997	15.7 °C
1998	18.4 °C
2000	16.1 °C
2002	17.4 °C
2003	16.2 °C
2004	17.0 °C
2005	18.2 °C
2006	17.3 °C
2008	17.2 °C
2009	16.2 °C
2010	18.4 °C
2011	17.5 °C
2012	18.2 °C
2013	17.1 °C
2014	16.5 °C
2015	17.5 °C
2016	18.0 °C
2017	17.7 °C
2018	17.9 °C
2019	17.0 °C
2020	16.6 °C
2021	17.6 °C
2022	17.1 °C
2023	17.1 °C
2024	18.2 °C
2025	17.6 °C
2026	17.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1898, Coldwater's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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