When to plant in Marine City, MI

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

Safe to plant out
May 9
1 year in 10 has a later frost
Average last frost
Apr 25
about a 50% chance of a later one
Average first fall frost
Oct 30
1 year in 10 by Oct 12
Frost-free days
188
median, 1991–2020

Station used: Port Huron · 29.0 km away · station 180 m, town 178 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

CropStart indoorsPlant out or sowHarvest from
Tomato Mar 14 – Mar 28 May 9 – May 23 Jul 3
Sweet pepper Feb 28 – Mar 14 May 9 – May 23 Jul 8
Lettuce (leaf) Mar 3 – Mar 10 Apr 7 – Apr 21 May 17
Peas — Apr 7 – May 5 Jun 1
Bush beans — May 2 – May 23 Jun 21
Carrot — Apr 17 – May 29 Jun 16
Beet — Apr 17 – May 29 Jun 6
Potato — Apr 17 – May 8 Jun 26
Kale Mar 3 – Mar 17 Apr 14 – Apr 28 May 27
Broccoli Feb 24 – Mar 10 Apr 7 – Apr 28 Jun 6
Cucumber Apr 11 – Apr 18 May 9 – May 23 Jun 28
Summer squash and zucchini Apr 11 – Apr 18 May 9 – May 23 Jun 23
Winter squash Apr 11 – Apr 18 May 9 – May 23 Jul 28
Sweet corn — May 2 – May 23 Jul 1
Onion (from sets) — Apr 7 – Apr 28 Jul 6
Garlic — Oct 10 – Nov 7 (fall) following summer
Spinach — Apr 7 – May 5 May 15
Basil Mar 28 – Apr 11 May 9 – May 23 Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for Marine City

Marine City's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Apr 15May 1May 15Jun 1 194019501960197019801990200020102020
Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend
See the data as a table
YearLast spring frost
1934May 12
1935May 21
1937Apr 17
1938May 12
1939Apr 13
1941May 18
1943May 14
1944Apr 28
1945Jun 5
1946May 13
1948Apr 22
1949Apr 29
1950May 8
1951May 13
1952May 3
1953Apr 24
1954May 21
1956Apr 26
1957Apr 15
1958Apr 30
1959Apr 21
1960Apr 19
1961May 2
1962Apr 20
1963May 23
1964Apr 20
1965Apr 25
1966May 10
1967May 16
1968May 6
1969Apr 20
1970May 7
1971Apr 27
1972Apr 28
1973Apr 14
1974May 7
1975Apr 21
1976May 19
1977Apr 29
1978May 22
1979Apr 11
1980Apr 21
1981Apr 22
1982Apr 23
1983Apr 25
1984Apr 22
1985Apr 10
1986May 2
1987May 12
1988Apr 25
1989Apr 24
1990May 11
1991Apr 23
1992May 5
1993Apr 27
1994Apr 22
1995Apr 16
1996Apr 28
1997Apr 21
1998Apr 11
1999Apr 25
2000Apr 12
2001Apr 18
2002May 20
2003Apr 23
2004Apr 27
2005Apr 24
2006Apr 9
2007Apr 14
2008Apr 30
2009Apr 13
2010Apr 23
2011Apr 18
2012Apr 29
2013May 14
2014May 6
2015Apr 25
2017May 9
2018Apr 21
2019Apr 15
2020May 9
2021May 1
2022Apr 28
2023Apr 8
2024Apr 26
2025Apr 17
2026May 12

What this means for you: Since 1934, Marine City's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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