When to plant in Ithaca, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 22

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 4

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 8

1 year in 10 by Sep 25

Frost-free days

152

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Alma · 11.1 km away · station 222 m, town 242 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Ithaca plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 16
Sweet pepper	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 5 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 19
Peas	—	Apr 9 – May 7	Jun 3
Bush beans	—	May 15 – Jun 5	Jul 4
Carrot	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 18
Beet	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 8
Potato	—	Apr 19 – May 10	Jun 28
Kale	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 29
Broccoli	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 8
Cucumber	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 11
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 6
Winter squash	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Aug 10
Sweet corn	—	May 15 – Jun 5	Jul 14
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jul 8
Garlic	—	Sep 24 – Oct 22 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 9 – May 7	May 17
Basil	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 18

Plan all 65 crops for Ithaca

Ithaca'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
1888	May 20
1889	May 28
1890	May 11
1892	May 8
1894	May 29
1895	May 21
1896	Apr 22
1897	May 26
1898	May 12
1899	Apr 16
1900	May 22
1901	May 15
1902	May 14
1903	May 4
1904	May 16
1905	May 9
1906	May 20
1907	May 28
1908	May 5
1909	May 10
1910	May 15
1911	May 13
1912	Apr 30
1913	May 11
1914	May 15
1915	May 26
1916	Apr 15
1917	May 23
1918	May 11
1919	Apr 30
1920	May 15
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 13
1924	May 20
1925	May 24
1926	May 28
1927	Apr 30
1928	May 12
1929	May 9
1930	May 29
1931	May 24
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	May 25
1935	May 6
1936	May 20
1937	May 15
1938	May 13
1939	May 18
1940	May 4
1941	May 11
1942	Apr 21
1943	May 14
1944	May 7
1945	May 19
1946	May 13
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 17
1949	May 11
1950	May 8
1951	May 13
1952	May 3
1953	Apr 28
1954	May 10
1955	May 9
1956	May 8
1957	May 16
1958	May 23
1959	May 1
1961	May 27
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 25
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 13
1967	May 12
1968	May 6
1969	May 21
1970	May 6
1971	May 13
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 18
1974	May 7
1975	Apr 26
1976	May 12
1977	May 10
1978	May 3
1979	May 5
1980	May 8
1981	May 18
1982	Apr 30
1983	May 18
1984	May 14
1985	Apr 18
1986	May 4
1987	May 6
1988	Apr 26
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 20
1991	May 3
1992	May 25
1993	Apr 28
1994	May 3
1995	May 1
1996	May 14
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 29
1999	Apr 24
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 20
2002	May 20
2003	May 4
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2006	May 23
2007	Apr 15
2009	Apr 24
2010	May 11
2011	Apr 20
2012	Apr 30
2013	May 25
2014	Apr 27
2015	May 21
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 30
2025	May 9
2026	May 3

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1888	108
1892	146
1894	112
1895	139
1896	153
1897	117
1898	155
1899	150
1900	147
1901	126
1902	148
1903	147
1904	139
1905	164
1906	142
1907	120
1908	149
1909	144
1910	144
1911	108
1912	151
1913	125
1914	162
1915	125
1916	155
1917	109
1918	133
1919	160
1920	143
1922	166
1923	144
1924	152
1926	119
1927	162
1928	135
1929	132
1930	124
1931	140
1932	162
1933	168
1934	140
1935	152
1936	119
1937	124
1938	146
1939	134
1940	144
1941	152
1942	154
1943	132
1944	157
1945	133
1946	140
1947	137
1948	183
1949	157
1950	138
1951	138
1952	152
1953	161
1954	149
1955	165
1956	134
1957	133
1958	135
1959	170
1961	124
1962	152
1964	162
1965	151
1966	135
1968	151
1969	153
1970	162
1971	171
1972	164
1973	153
1974	137
1975	182
1976	134
1977	149
1978	157
1979	158
1980	148
1981	137
1982	168
1983	149
1984	138
1985	181
1986	158
1987	158
1988	162
1989	138
1990	174
1991	140
1992	120
1993	154
1994	151
1995	144
1996	141
1997	152
1998	155
1999	165
2000	166
2001	169
2002	146
2003	150
2004	153
2005	164
2006	128
2007	166
2009	159
2010	145
2011	184
2012	160
2013	149
2014	166
2015	148
2025	169

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1888	14.4 °C
1890	15.8 °C
1892	15.6 °C
1894	16.2 °C
1895	16.9 °C
1896	17.4 °C
1897	16.0 °C
1898	16.9 °C
1899	16.7 °C
1900	17.4 °C
1901	16.9 °C
1902	15.8 °C
1903	15.7 °C
1904	15.4 °C
1905	16.1 °C
1906	17.0 °C
1907	14.4 °C
1908	16.7 °C
1909	15.8 °C
1910	16.0 °C
1911	16.8 °C
1912	15.7 °C
1913	16.3 °C
1914	16.2 °C
1915	15.7 °C
1916	16.5 °C
1917	14.3 °C
1918	15.6 °C
1919	16.9 °C
1920	15.0 °C
1921	19.3 °C
1922	17.4 °C
1923	16.3 °C
1924	14.8 °C
1926	14.8 °C
1927	15.2 °C
1928	14.9 °C
1929	16.0 °C
1930	17.4 °C
1931	17.9 °C
1932	17.0 °C
1933	18.0 °C
1934	17.5 °C
1935	16.1 °C
1936	17.1 °C
1937	17.1 °C
1938	17.2 °C
1939	17.2 °C
1940	16.4 °C
1941	17.9 °C
1942	17.2 °C
1943	16.4 °C
1944	17.6 °C
1945	15.8 °C
1946	16.6 °C
1947	16.7 °C
1948	17.4 °C
1949	17.6 °C
1950	15.6 °C
1951	16.5 °C
1952	17.6 °C
1953	17.3 °C
1954	16.9 °C
1955	18.8 °C
1956	16.1 °C
1957	16.9 °C
1958	16.6 °C
1959	18.5 °C
1960	18.1 °C
1961	16.4 °C
1962	17.1 °C
1964	17.6 °C
1965	16.3 °C
1966	16.1 °C
1967	16.4 °C
1968	17.4 °C
1969	17.1 °C
1970	17.7 °C
1971	17.3 °C
1972	16.5 °C
1973	17.4 °C
1974	16.5 °C
1975	16.9 °C
1976	17.2 °C
1977	17.8 °C
1978	16.0 °C
1979	15.3 °C
1980	15.8 °C
1981	15.4 °C
1982	15.2 °C
1983	16.3 °C
1984	16.2 °C
1985	16.5 °C
1986	16.5 °C
1987	17.9 °C
1988	17.6 °C
1989	15.9 °C
1990	16.2 °C
1991	17.4 °C
1992	14.5 °C
1993	15.4 °C
1994	15.9 °C
1995	15.8 °C
1996	15.7 °C
1997	15.0 °C
1998	17.6 °C
1999	18.3 °C
2000	16.5 °C
2001	17.1 °C
2002	17.1 °C
2003	16.1 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	17.4 °C
2006	16.7 °C
2007	17.6 °C
2009	15.7 °C
2010	17.8 °C
2011	16.6 °C
2012	17.1 °C
2013	16.1 °C
2014	15.7 °C
2015	16.6 °C
2022	16.6 °C
2025	16.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1888, Ithaca'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 Alma (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Alma Saint Louis Breckenridge Carson City Shepherd Saint Johns