When to plant in Eaton Rapids, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 20

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 3

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 11

1 year in 10 by Sep 30

Frost-free days

160

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Charlotte · 14.6 km away · station 275 m, town 265 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	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 14
Sweet pepper	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 19
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 4 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 18
Peas	—	Apr 8 – May 6	Jun 2
Bush beans	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 2
Carrot	—	Apr 18 – May 30	Jun 17
Beet	—	Apr 18 – May 30	Jun 7
Potato	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 27
Kale	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 28
Broccoli	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 7
Cucumber	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 9
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 4
Winter squash	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Aug 8
Sweet corn	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 12
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jul 7
Garlic	—	Sep 27 – Oct 25 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 8 – May 6	May 16
Basil	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 16

Plan all 65 crops for Eaton Rapids

Eaton Rapids'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
1902	May 28
1905	May 9
1906	May 10
1907	May 28
1908	May 11
1909	May 11
1910	May 14
1911	May 6
1912	Apr 30
1913	May 11
1914	May 2
1915	May 27
1916	May 20
1917	May 23
1918	Jun 23
1919	May 6
1920	May 16
1921	May 17
1923	May 18
1924	May 22
1925	May 25
1927	May 1
1928	May 13
1929	May 22
1930	Apr 27
1931	May 24
1932	May 2
1933	May 4
1934	May 12
1935	May 24
1936	May 20
1937	May 15
1938	May 13
1939	May 12
1940	May 4
1941	May 10
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	May 15
1946	May 13
1947	May 10
1948	May 8
1951	Apr 23
1954	May 10
1955	May 17
1957	May 5
1958	May 29
1959	May 16
1960	May 9
1961	May 30
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 24
1964	May 29
1965	May 30
1966	Jun 1
1967	May 23
1968	May 18
1969	Jun 9
1970	May 7
1971	May 22
1972	Jun 11
1973	May 18
1974	May 10
1975	Apr 26
1976	May 19
1977	Jun 3
1979	May 13
1980	May 10
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 29
1983	May 10
1986	May 4
1987	May 5
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 13
1992	May 26
1993	Apr 28
1994	May 3
1995	May 1
1996	May 30
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 26
2000	Apr 26
2001	Apr 19
2003	Apr 26
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 17
2008	May 27
2009	May 17
2010	May 9
2011	Apr 22
2012	Apr 30
2013	May 13
2014	May 16
2015	Apr 27
2016	Apr 14
2017	May 10
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1902	134
1905	155
1906	152
1907	120
1908	114
1909	143
1910	145
1911	154
1912	149
1913	154
1914	175
1915	124
1916	120
1917	109
1918	90
1919	158
1920	142
1921	148
1923	139
1924	151
1925	137
1927	159
1928	135
1929	119
1930	155
1931	140
1932	145
1933	161
1934	153
1935	126
1936	127
1937	134
1938	146
1939	141
1940	143
1941	170
1943	145
1944	161
1945	137
1946	140
1947	135
1951	158
1954	149
1955	149
1957	144
1958	124
1960	127
1961	121
1962	134
1963	112
1964	106
1965	119
1966	106
1967	122
1969	111
1970	144
1971	124
1972	119
1973	140
1974	134
1975	140
1977	122
1979	132
1980	148
1981	133
1982	170
1986	158
1987	151
1989	138
1990	175
1991	160
1992	139
1993	154
1994	159
1995	144
1996	125
1997	152
1998	176
1999	163
2000	163
2001	170
2003	157
2004	153
2006	167
2007	189
2008	128
2009	135
2010	165
2011	182
2012	160
2013	161
2014	147
2015	173
2016	193
2017	168
2018	168

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1902	16.4 °C
1906	17.7 °C
1907	13.9 °C
1908	17.1 °C
1909	15.8 °C
1910	16.1 °C
1912	16.4 °C
1913	17.2 °C
1914	16.7 °C
1915	15.5 °C
1916	16.5 °C
1917	14.8 °C
1918	16.6 °C
1919	17.0 °C
1920	15.8 °C
1921	19.3 °C
1924	15.0 °C
1925	17.1 °C
1927	15.8 °C
1928	15.2 °C
1929	16.1 °C
1930	17.6 °C
1931	18.3 °C
1932	17.2 °C
1933	18.4 °C
1934	18.2 °C
1935	16.1 °C
1936	17.7 °C
1937	17.2 °C
1938	17.8 °C
1939	18.1 °C
1940	16.8 °C
1941	18.7 °C
1943	16.2 °C
1944	17.6 °C
1945	15.8 °C
1946	16.7 °C
1947	16.6 °C
1951	16.3 °C
1953	18.9 °C
1954	17.7 °C
1955	19.1 °C
1957	16.6 °C
1958	15.9 °C
1959	17.2 °C
1960	16.9 °C
1961	16.4 °C
1962	17.1 °C
1963	16.5 °C
1964	17.4 °C
1966	15.9 °C
1967	15.6 °C
1969	16.7 °C
1970	17.1 °C
1971	17.0 °C
1972	16.2 °C
1973	17.2 °C
1974	16.5 °C
1975	16.4 °C
1976	15.3 °C
1977	16.6 °C
1979	15.4 °C
1980	15.9 °C
1981	16.4 °C
1982	15.8 °C
1986	16.5 °C
1987	17.2 °C
1989	15.3 °C
1990	15.7 °C
1991	17.3 °C
1992	14.4 °C
1993	15.7 °C
1994	16.1 °C
1995	16.2 °C
1996	15.6 °C
1997	14.7 °C
1998	17.6 °C
2000	16.0 °C
2001	16.9 °C
2002	17.8 °C
2003	16.0 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2006	17.0 °C
2007	17.0 °C
2008	16.4 °C
2009	15.7 °C
2010	18.0 °C
2011	16.8 °C
2012	17.5 °C
2013	16.4 °C
2014	16.0 °C
2015	16.8 °C
2016	17.1 °C
2017	17.0 °C
2018	17.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, Eaton Rapids'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 Charlotte (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Potterville Dimondale Charlotte Holt Mason Leslie