When to plant in Albert Lea, MN

Planting dates worked out from Albert Lea'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 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 6

1 year in 10 by Sep 23

Frost-free days

162

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Albert Lea 3se · 7.1 km away · station 375 m, town 379 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Albert Lea plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest 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 6 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 20
Peas	—	Apr 10 – May 8	Jun 4
Bush beans	—	May 2 – May 23	Jun 21
Carrot	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 18
Beet	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 8
Potato	—	Apr 19 – May 10	Jun 28
Kale	Mar 6 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 1	May 30
Broccoli	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – May 1	Jun 9
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 10 – May 1	Jul 9
Garlic	—	Sep 22 – Oct 20 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 10 – May 8	May 18
Basil	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for Albert Lea

Albert Lea'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
1893	May 4
1894	Apr 22
1895	May 15
1896	Apr 15
1898	Apr 26
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 13
1903	May 2
1906	May 7
1907	May 20
1908	May 3
1909	May 11
1910	May 4
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 7
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 18
1916	May 2
1917	Apr 27
1918	May 13
1919	Apr 24
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 22
1925	May 17
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 19
1930	May 17
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 28
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 3
1936	Apr 25
1937	Apr 11
1938	May 9
1939	Apr 19
1940	May 2
1941	Apr 21
1942	May 24
1944	May 5
1945	May 10
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 24
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	Apr 30
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 21
1960	May 11
1961	May 9
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 9
1967	May 4
1968	May 5
1969	Apr 29
1970	May 2
1971	May 19
1972	May 5
1973	May 17
1974	May 13
1975	May 1
1976	May 6
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 2
1979	May 21
1980	Apr 26
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 27
1984	May 2
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 4
1988	Apr 27
1989	May 7
1990	May 2
1991	Apr 21
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 21
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 28
1997	May 15
1998	Apr 4
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 19
2002	May 3
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 20
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 17
2013	May 4
2014	Apr 25
2015	Apr 23
2016	May 15
2017	Apr 28
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 25
2022	Apr 19
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 24
2025	Apr 16
2026	May 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	143
1895	137
1896	159
1898	162
1899	164
1900	176
1903	154
1906	154
1907	127
1908	147
1909	152
1910	127
1911	157
1912	171
1914	187
1915	139
1916	135
1917	161
1918	130
1919	168
1920	155
1921	140
1922	171
1923	162
1924	160
1925	144
1926	144
1927	172
1928	151
1929	121
1930	151
1931	180
1932	164
1933	166
1934	156
1935	146
1936	178
1937	179
1938	166
1939	163
1940	187
1941	188
1942	121
1944	155
1945	141
1946	152
1947	119
1948	172
1949	157
1950	154
1951	154
1952	161
1953	131
1954	151
1955	159
1956	152
1957	157
1958	164
1959	170
1960	159
1961	141
1962	186
1963	159
1964	178
1965	167
1966	162
1967	146
1968	151
1969	167
1970	154
1971	140
1972	147
1973	155
1974	130
1975	145
1976	152
1977	176
1978	158
1979	140
1980	152
1981	144
1982	171
1984	146
1985	173
1986	166
1987	181
1988	159
1989	138
1990	160
1991	151
1992	145
1993	163
1994	160
1995	146
1997	151
1998	200
1999	166
2000	167
2001	169
2002	143
2003	171
2004	152
2005	156
2006	185
2007	151
2008	168
2009	171
2010	146
2011	149
2012	158
2013	165
2014	162
2015	176
2016	150
2017	181
2018	172
2019	166
2020	145
2021	179
2022	161
2023	159
2024	174
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	15.6 °C
1895	17.4 °C
1898	16.4 °C
1899	17.2 °C
1900	18.2 °C
1902	15.6 °C
1903	15.8 °C
1905	17.2 °C
1906	17.6 °C
1908	17.2 °C
1909	15.9 °C
1910	17.9 °C
1911	17.5 °C
1912	16.8 °C
1914	17.7 °C
1915	16.1 °C
1916	17.1 °C
1917	15.6 °C
1918	16.9 °C
1919	18.1 °C
1920	16.9 °C
1921	19.6 °C
1922	18.8 °C
1923	17.8 °C
1924	15.8 °C
1925	18.1 °C
1926	16.9 °C
1927	16.2 °C
1928	16.4 °C
1929	16.9 °C
1930	17.9 °C
1931	19.2 °C
1932	18.0 °C
1933	18.7 °C
1934	18.8 °C
1935	16.7 °C
1936	18.4 °C
1937	17.9 °C
1938	17.7 °C
1939	18.9 °C
1940	17.6 °C
1941	19.0 °C
1942	16.2 °C
1944	16.8 °C
1945	16.0 °C
1946	17.4 °C
1947	17.2 °C
1948	17.6 °C
1949	18.4 °C
1950	15.8 °C
1951	16.0 °C
1952	17.5 °C
1953	17.5 °C
1954	17.9 °C
1955	19.6 °C
1956	16.4 °C
1957	17.0 °C
1958	17.1 °C
1959	17.4 °C
1960	16.8 °C
1961	16.1 °C
1962	16.6 °C
1963	17.5 °C
1964	17.7 °C
1965	16.2 °C
1966	16.8 °C
1967	16.1 °C
1968	16.8 °C
1969	17.6 °C
1970	17.5 °C
1971	17.2 °C
1972	16.7 °C
1973	17.0 °C
1974	16.8 °C
1975	17.0 °C
1976	17.8 °C
1980	17.2 °C
1981	17.3 °C
1982	16.0 °C
1984	16.5 °C
1985	16.9 °C
1986	17.0 °C
1987	18.5 °C
1988	18.5 °C
1989	16.6 °C
1990	16.7 °C
1991	17.6 °C
1992	14.9 °C
1993	15.3 °C
1994	16.6 °C
1995	16.5 °C
1996	15.4 °C
1997	15.9 °C
1998	18.1 °C
1999	17.1 °C
2000	17.0 °C
2001	17.2 °C
2002	17.1 °C
2003	16.8 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	17.8 °C
2006	17.6 °C
2007	17.7 °C
2008	16.3 °C
2009	16.1 °C
2010	18.2 °C
2011	17.2 °C
2012	18.5 °C
2013	16.5 °C
2014	16.6 °C
2015	17.6 °C
2016	17.8 °C
2017	17.3 °C
2018	17.1 °C
2019	17.1 °C
2020	17.4 °C
2021	18.1 °C
2022	17.3 °C
2023	18.2 °C
2024	17.9 °C
2025	18.0 °C
2026	18.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Albert Lea's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Albert Lea 3se (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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