When to plant in Appleton, MN

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

Safe to plant out

May 15

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

Sep 30

1 year in 10 by Sep 19

Frost-free days

148

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Milan 1nw · 11.1 km away · station 311 m, town 307 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 20 – Apr 3	May 15 – May 29	Jul 9
Sweet pepper	Mar 6 – Mar 20	May 15 – May 29	Jul 14
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 4 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 18
Peas	—	Apr 8 – May 6	Jun 2
Bush beans	—	May 8 – May 29	Jun 27
Carrot	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 15
Beet	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 5
Potato	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 25
Kale	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 28
Broccoli	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 7
Cucumber	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Jul 4
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Jun 29
Winter squash	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Aug 3
Sweet corn	—	May 8 – May 29	Jul 7
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jul 7
Garlic	—	Sep 16 – Oct 14 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 8 – May 6	May 16
Basil	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 15 – May 29	Jul 11

Plan all 65 crops for Appleton

Appleton'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
1894	May 19
1895	May 26
1896	Apr 16
1897	Jun 7
1898	May 13
1899	May 18
1900	May 9
1901	Jun 7
1902	Apr 26
1903	May 6
1904	May 17
1905	Apr 30
1906	May 9
1907	May 27
1908	May 8
1909	May 10
1910	Jun 2
1911	May 12
1912	May 16
1913	May 10
1914	May 13
1915	Jun 9
1916	May 3
1917	May 24
1918	May 20
1919	May 8
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 26
1923	May 16
1924	May 25
1925	May 25
1926	May 22
1927	May 6
1928	Jun 3
1929	May 20
1930	May 24
1931	May 20
1932	May 1
1933	May 3
1934	May 24
1935	May 10
1936	May 3
1937	May 9
1938	May 7
1939	May 15
1940	May 9
1941	May 23
1942	May 3
1943	May 17
1944	May 6
1945	May 15
1946	Jun 2
1947	May 30
1948	Apr 13
1949	May 26
1950	May 1
1951	May 11
1952	Apr 16
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 19
1957	May 5
1958	May 6
1959	May 15
1960	May 11
1961	May 3
1962	Apr 28
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 22
1965	May 28
1966	May 12
1967	May 20
1968	May 18
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 26
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 14
1974	May 15
1975	May 15
1976	May 17
1977	May 2
1978	May 2
1979	May 21
1980	May 9
1981	May 19
1982	May 8
1983	May 25
1984	May 8
1985	Apr 26
1986	May 2
1987	Apr 7
1988	May 16
1989	May 9
1990	May 18
1991	Apr 23
1992	May 26
1993	May 3
1994	Apr 30
1995	Apr 25
1996	May 13
1997	May 15
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 23
2002	May 24
2003	May 1
2004	May 14
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 18
2008	May 11
2009	May 10
2010	May 9
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 20
2013	May 12
2014	May 16
2015	Apr 27
2016	May 15
2017	May 1
2018	Apr 28
2019	May 7
2020	May 12
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 28
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 24
2025	May 3
2026	May 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	120
1895	123
1896	132
1897	101
1898	118
1899	117
1900	130
1901	113
1902	138
1903	132
1904	125
1905	162
1906	149
1907	120
1908	141
1909	153
1910	98
1911	147
1912	132
1913	133
1914	153
1915	117
1916	134
1917	125
1918	106
1919	154
1920	138
1921	139
1922	165
1923	119
1924	148
1925	118
1926	124
1927	139
1928	111
1929	120
1930	125
1931	101
1932	144
1933	153
1934	119
1935	139
1936	146
1937	129
1938	134
1939	132
1940	125
1941	127
1942	143
1943	115
1944	155
1945	136
1946	118
1947	114
1948	179
1949	110
1950	154
1951	135
1952	159
1953	143
1954	136
1955	125
1956	133
1957	165
1958	147
1959	145
1960	159
1961	144
1962	144
1963	158
1964	157
1965	120
1966	141
1967	126
1968	138
1969	148
1970	158
1971	114
1972	156
1973	128
1974	110
1975	119
1976	127
1977	152
1978	163
1979	115
1980	136
1981	120
1982	135
1983	119
1984	125
1985	151
1986	154
1987	158
1988	126
1989	126
1990	127
1991	149
1992	118
1993	134
1994	148
1995	147
1996	142
1997	150
1998	146
1999	165
2000	152
2001	153
2002	122
2003	146
2004	140
2005	148
2006	146
2007	146
2008	155
2009	151
2010	158
2011	134
2012	155
2013	153
2014	146
2015	171
2016	145
2017	161
2018	153
2019	156
2020	142
2021	162
2022	152
2023	156
2024	162
2025	156

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1894	18.2 °C
1895	17.4 °C
1896	16.4 °C
1897	16.7 °C
1898	16.4 °C
1899	16.1 °C
1900	17.9 °C
1901	17.7 °C
1902	15.2 °C
1903	14.8 °C
1904	14.8 °C
1905	15.5 °C
1906	16.3 °C
1907	13.5 °C
1908	15.8 °C
1909	15.2 °C
1910	15.9 °C
1911	16.3 °C
1912	15.5 °C
1913	16.1 °C
1914	16.1 °C
1915	14.8 °C
1917	14.8 °C
1918	15.8 °C
1919	16.3 °C
1920	15.4 °C
1921	18.4 °C
1922	18.1 °C
1923	16.9 °C
1924	14.7 °C
1925	17.1 °C
1926	16.2 °C
1927	15.7 °C
1928	15.6 °C
1929	16.1 °C
1930	17.3 °C
1931	18.2 °C
1932	17.5 °C
1933	18.3 °C
1934	18.0 °C
1935	16.8 °C
1936	18.2 °C
1937	17.6 °C
1938	17.4 °C
1939	17.5 °C
1940	16.9 °C
1941	18.0 °C
1942	16.1 °C
1943	16.4 °C
1944	16.3 °C
1945	15.3 °C
1946	16.6 °C
1947	16.3 °C
1948	17.6 °C
1949	17.4 °C
1950	14.9 °C
1951	15.3 °C
1952	17.3 °C
1953	16.4 °C
1954	16.1 °C
1955	18.6 °C
1956	15.8 °C
1957	16.0 °C
1958	16.2 °C
1959	17.3 °C
1960	16.3 °C
1961	15.8 °C
1962	15.7 °C
1963	17.1 °C
1964	16.9 °C
1965	15.4 °C
1966	15.6 °C
1967	15.0 °C
1968	15.8 °C
1969	16.5 °C
1970	16.7 °C
1971	16.3 °C
1972	16.1 °C
1973	16.6 °C
1974	16.4 °C
1975	16.1 °C
1976	18.6 °C
1977	18.2 °C
1978	17.4 °C
1979	15.6 °C
1980	17.5 °C
1981	17.1 °C
1982	15.9 °C
1983	16.8 °C
1984	16.5 °C
1985	16.5 °C
1986	16.6 °C
1987	18.1 °C
1988	18.4 °C
1989	16.1 °C
1990	17.4 °C
1991	17.6 °C
1992	15.3 °C
1993	15.5 °C
1994	17.2 °C
1995	16.9 °C
1996	15.9 °C
1997	16.3 °C
1998	18.3 °C
1999	17.7 °C
2000	17.7 °C
2001	17.9 °C
2002	17.8 °C
2003	17.6 °C
2004	16.7 °C
2005	18.3 °C
2006	18.0 °C
2007	18.4 °C
2008	17.0 °C
2009	16.9 °C
2010	18.6 °C
2011	17.8 °C
2012	19.1 °C
2013	17.1 °C
2014	17.2 °C
2015	18.5 °C
2016	18.6 °C
2017	17.9 °C
2018	18.0 °C
2019	17.6 °C
2020	18.1 °C
2021	19.0 °C
2022	17.8 °C
2023	18.4 °C
2024	18.7 °C
2025	18.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, Appleton'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 Milan 1nw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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