When to plant in Kingsford, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 30

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 20

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 29

1 year in 10 by Sep 19

Frost-free days

131

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Iron Mtn-Kingsford Wwtp · 1.4 km away · station 326 m, town 335 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Kingsford plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 30 – Jun 13	Jul 24
Sweet pepper	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 30 – Jun 13	Jul 29
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 18 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 1
Peas	—	Apr 21 – May 19	Jun 15
Bush beans	—	May 23 – Jun 13	Jul 12
Carrot	—	Apr 29 – Jun 10	Jun 28
Beet	—	Apr 29 – Jun 10	Jun 18
Potato	—	Apr 29 – May 20	Jul 8
Kale	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 10
Broccoli	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 21
Cucumber	May 2 – May 9	May 30 – Jun 13	Jul 19
Summer squash and zucchini	May 2 – May 9	May 30 – Jun 13	Jul 14
Winter squash	May 2 – May 9	May 30 – Jun 13	Aug 18
Sweet corn	—	May 23 – Jun 13	Jul 22
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jul 21
Garlic	—	Sep 15 – Oct 13 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 21 – May 19	May 29
Basil	Apr 18 – May 2	May 30 – Jun 13	Jul 26

Plan all 65 crops for Kingsford

Kingsford'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
1899	Jun 2
1902	May 28
1903	Jun 12
1904	May 17
1905	May 26
1906	May 28
1907	May 27
1908	Jun 15
1909	May 1
1911	May 14
1912	May 19
1913	Jun 7
1914	May 15
1915	May 27
1916	May 12
1917	May 28
1918	Jun 23
1919	May 12
1920	May 28
1921	May 15
1922	Apr 28
1923	May 20
1924	May 29
1925	May 26
1926	Jun 19
1927	Jun 15
1928	May 13
1929	Jun 8
1930	May 30
1931	May 25
1932	May 28
1933	May 10
1934	May 25
1935	May 23
1936	May 20
1937	Jun 10
1938	May 24
1939	May 18
1940	Jun 21
1941	May 24
1942	Jun 14
1943	May 14
1944	Jun 7
1945	Jun 5
1946	Jun 9
1947	Jun 12
1948	Jun 6
1949	Jun 8
1950	May 27
1951	Jun 5
1952	May 18
1953	May 23
1954	Jun 5
1955	May 17
1956	Jun 2
1957	Jun 2
1958	Jun 14
1960	May 14
1961	May 29
1962	Jun 3
1963	May 23
1964	Jun 16
1965	May 29
1966	Jun 1
1967	May 22
1968	May 22
1969	May 26
1970	May 11
1971	Jun 9
1972	Jun 10
1973	May 30
1974	May 26
1975	May 16
1976	May 19
1977	May 10
1978	Jun 14
1979	May 25
1980	Jun 10
1981	May 19
1982	Jun 6
1983	May 27
1984	May 16
1985	May 21
1986	Jun 2
1987	May 12
1988	May 25
1989	May 12
1990	Jun 4
1991	May 19
1993	May 29
1994	Jun 3
1995	May 6
1996	May 30
1997	May 22
1998	Jun 5
1999	May 13
2000	May 20
2001	May 12
2002	May 25
2003	May 22
2004	May 15
2005	May 13
2006	May 22
2007	May 13
2008	May 28
2009	Jun 1
2010	May 10
2011	May 27
2012	May 10
2013	May 24
2014	May 18
2015	May 22
2016	May 18
2017	May 20
2018	May 12
2019	May 21
2020	May 13
2021	May 29
2022	May 23
2023	May 26
2024	May 10
2025	May 9
2026	May 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1899	103
1902	113
1903	96
1904	110
1905	132
1906	133
1907	117
1908	105
1909	147
1911	134
1912	130
1913	107
1914	116
1915	91
1916	126
1917	104
1918	72
1919	136
1921	145
1922	141
1923	115
1924	117
1925	121
1926	85
1927	113
1928	109
1929	101
1930	120
1931	96
1932	112
1933	155
1934	127
1935	97
1936	119
1937	94
1938	127
1939	115
1940	95
1941	127
1942	97
1943	119
1944	92
1945	81
1946	85
1947	101
1948	107
1949	107
1950	112
1951	115
1952	111
1953	113
1954	109
1955	116
1956	97
1957	97
1958	88
1960	126
1961	119
1962	108
1963	112
1964	87
1965	104
1966	114
1967	110
1968	134
1969	124
1970	139
1971	106
1972	103
1973	112
1974	99
1975	119
1976	105
1977	144
1978	105
1979	105
1980	107
1981	125
1982	107
1983	118
1984	132
1985	114
1986	96
1987	141
1988	130
1989	134
1990	104
1991	124
1993	112
1994	120
1995	126
1996	125
1997	131
1998	109
1999	130
2000	126
2001	145
2002	134
2003	129
2004	136
2005	146
2006	121
2009	121
2010	144
2011	111
2012	131
2013	142
2014	140
2015	132
2016	143
2017	143
2018	139
2019	144
2020	127
2021	145
2022	122
2023	133
2024	151
2025	151

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1899	14.3 °C
1902	13.6 °C
1903	13.6 °C
1904	13.0 °C
1905	13.9 °C
1906	14.9 °C
1907	12.7 °C
1908	15.5 °C
1909	14.7 °C
1911	15.8 °C
1912	14.3 °C
1913	15.2 °C
1914	14.9 °C
1915	14.2 °C
1916	14.9 °C
1917	13.0 °C
1918	14.1 °C
1919	15.9 °C
1920	14.3 °C
1921	18.1 °C
1922	15.6 °C
1923	14.8 °C
1924	12.7 °C
1925	15.6 °C
1926	13.6 °C
1927	13.6 °C
1928	13.1 °C
1929	14.0 °C
1930	15.3 °C
1931	15.9 °C
1932	14.8 °C
1933	15.8 °C
1934	14.9 °C
1935	13.8 °C
1936	14.8 °C
1937	14.2 °C
1938	14.8 °C
1939	14.6 °C
1940	13.7 °C
1941	15.8 °C
1942	14.2 °C
1943	13.9 °C
1944	14.3 °C
1945	12.8 °C
1946	13.7 °C
1947	14.2 °C
1948	15.1 °C
1949	15.6 °C
1950	12.6 °C
1951	13.8 °C
1952	15.0 °C
1953	14.3 °C
1954	13.4 °C
1955	16.1 °C
1956	13.2 °C
1957	14.3 °C
1958	13.6 °C
1960	13.9 °C
1961	13.8 °C
1962	13.9 °C
1963	14.2 °C
1964	14.6 °C
1965	13.4 °C
1966	14.2 °C
1967	13.5 °C
1968	14.5 °C
1969	14.3 °C
1970	14.9 °C
1971	14.1 °C
1972	13.7 °C
1973	14.4 °C
1974	13.6 °C
1975	14.6 °C
1976	14.9 °C
1977	15.6 °C
1978	14.6 °C
1979	13.8 °C
1980	15.2 °C
1981	14.4 °C
1982	13.8 °C
1983	15.0 °C
1984	14.5 °C
1985	14.1 °C
1986	14.9 °C
1987	15.8 °C
1988	15.7 °C
1989	14.2 °C
1990	14.1 °C
1991	15.9 °C
1993	13.6 °C
1994	14.6 °C
1995	14.8 °C
1996	13.8 °C
1997	13.7 °C
1998	16.4 °C
1999	15.6 °C
2000	14.3 °C
2001	15.7 °C
2002	15.0 °C
2003	14.6 °C
2004	13.8 °C
2005	16.2 °C
2006	15.7 °C
2008	14.8 °C
2009	14.0 °C
2010	16.0 °C
2011	15.0 °C
2012	15.9 °C
2013	14.3 °C
2014	14.0 °C
2015	15.3 °C
2016	15.6 °C
2017	14.9 °C
2018	15.4 °C
2019	14.6 °C
2020	14.7 °C
2021	15.8 °C
2022	15.1 °C
2023	15.1 °C
2024	15.9 °C
2025	15.5 °C
2026	15.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1899, Kingsford's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Iron Mtn-Kingsford Wwtp (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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