When to plant in Carlton, MN

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

Safe to plant out

Jun 13

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 20

1 year in 10 by Sep 9

Frost-free days

110

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Cloquet · 8.8 km away · station 386 m, town 330 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	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 13 – Jun 27	Aug 7
Sweet pepper	Apr 4 – Apr 18	Jun 13 – Jun 27	Aug 12
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 26 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 9
Peas	—	Apr 22 – May 20	Jun 16
Bush beans	—	Jun 6 – Jun 27	Jul 26
Carrot	—	May 7 – Jun 18	Jul 6
Beet	—	May 1 – Jun 12	Jun 20
Potato	—	May 7 – May 28	Jul 16
Kale	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 12
Broccoli	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 21	Jun 29
Cucumber	May 16 – May 23	Jun 13 – Jun 27	Aug 2
Summer squash and zucchini	May 16 – May 23	Jun 13 – Jun 27	Jul 28
Winter squash	May 16 – May 23	Jun 13 – Jun 27	Sep 1
Sweet corn	—	Jun 6 – Jun 27	Aug 5
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 30 – May 21	Jul 29
Garlic	—	Sep 6 – Oct 4 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 22 – May 20	May 30
Basil	May 2 – May 16	Jun 13 – Jun 27	Aug 9

Plan all 65 crops for Carlton

Carlton'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
1912	Jun 7
1913	Jun 10
1914	Jun 14
1915	Jun 23
1916	Jun 21
1917	Jun 22
1918	Jun 23
1919	May 20
1920	Jun 3
1921	Jun 5
1922	May 31
1923	May 21
1924	Jun 7
1925	Jun 29
1926	Jun 26
1927	Jun 15
1928	Jun 10
1930	May 30
1931	Jun 8
1932	Jul 4
1933	Jun 14
1934	May 26
1935	May 24
1936	Jun 2
1937	Jun 9
1938	May 24
1939	May 17
1940	Jun 20
1941	May 23
1942	Jun 14
1943	Jun 7
1944	Jun 7
1945	Jun 6
1946	Jun 9
1947	Jun 12
1948	Jun 15
1949	Jun 8
1950	Jun 21
1951	Jun 4
1952	Jun 1
1953	Jun 7
1954	Jun 5
1955	May 17
1956	Jun 1
1957	Jun 7
1958	Jun 14
1959	May 22
1960	Jun 7
1961	Jun 15
1962	Jun 12
1963	Jun 21
1964	Jun 4
1965	May 29
1966	Jun 10
1967	May 22
1968	Jun 15
1969	Jun 20
1970	May 23
1971	Jun 9
1972	Jun 17
1973	May 30
1974	May 14
1975	May 16
1976	May 24
1977	May 9
1978	May 21
1979	Jun 1
1980	May 16
1981	May 31
1982	Jun 3
1983	Jun 9
1984	May 29
1985	Jun 5
1986	Jun 2
1987	May 24
1988	Jun 9
1989	May 27
1990	Jun 4
1991	May 19
1992	Jun 21
1993	May 29
1994	Jun 3
1995	Jun 9
1996	May 30
1997	Jun 14
1998	May 10
1999	May 9
2000	Jun 5
2001	May 12
2002	May 21
2003	May 25
2004	May 29
2005	May 16
2006	May 22
2007	May 28
2008	May 28
2009	Jun 3
2010	May 17
2011	May 27
2012	Jun 1
2013	Jun 18
2014	May 17
2015	Jun 1
2019	Jun 13
2020	May 31
2021	May 29
2022	May 21
2023	May 15
2024	May 11
2025	May 25
2026	May 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1912	41
1913	99
1914	70
1915	31
1916	52
1917	63
1918	71
1919	127
1920	58
1921	117
1922	89
1923	92
1924	90
1925	74
1926	77
1927	68
1928	85
1930	98
1931	107
1932	64
1933	98
1934	85
1935	99
1936	106
1937	101
1938	116
1939	129
1940	63
1941	95
1942	70
1943	95
1944	91
1945	101
1946	84
1947	101
1948	98
1949	103
1950	57
1951	111
1952	106
1953	97
1954	106
1955	116
1956	97
1957	101
1958	87
1959	111
1960	102
1961	80
1962	98
1963	83
1964	99
1965	104
1966	106
1967	110
1968	72
1969	95
1970	112
1971	99
1972	79
1973	112
1974	109
1975	118
1976	96
1977	144
1978	126
1979	109
1980	129
1981	111
1982	109
1983	96
1984	119
1985	97
1986	96
1987	123
1988	88
1989	108
1990	110
1991	123
1992	89
1993	99
1994	117
1995	99
1996	125
1997	98
1998	134
1999	134
2000	110
2001	134
2002	125
2003	126
2004	122
2005	129
2006	109
2007	106
2008	103
2009	118
2010	110
2011	110
2012	109
2013	86
2014	117
2015	119
2019	106
2020	100
2021	140
2022	128
2023	120
2024	118
2025	135

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1911	13.2 °C
1912	12.2 °C
1913	12.7 °C
1914	12.8 °C
1915	12.1 °C
1916	12.8 °C
1917	11.4 °C
1918	12.0 °C
1919	14.1 °C
1920	13.1 °C
1921	15.2 °C
1922	14.2 °C
1923	13.6 °C
1924	12.2 °C
1925	14.1 °C
1926	12.9 °C
1927	12.4 °C
1928	12.3 °C
1930	14.5 °C
1931	14.7 °C
1932	14.1 °C
1933	14.6 °C
1934	13.8 °C
1935	13.0 °C
1936	14.0 °C
1937	14.2 °C
1938	13.9 °C
1939	13.8 °C
1940	13.3 °C
1941	14.8 °C
1942	13.6 °C
1943	13.5 °C
1944	13.3 °C
1945	12.0 °C
1946	13.1 °C
1947	13.1 °C
1948	14.1 °C
1949	14.4 °C
1950	11.6 °C
1951	12.6 °C
1952	14.2 °C
1953	13.4 °C
1954	12.7 °C
1955	15.3 °C
1956	12.4 °C
1957	13.3 °C
1958	13.2 °C
1959	14.2 °C
1960	13.8 °C
1961	13.8 °C
1962	12.8 °C
1963	14.3 °C
1964	13.6 °C
1965	12.3 °C
1966	13.2 °C
1967	12.8 °C
1968	13.4 °C
1969	13.6 °C
1970	14.1 °C
1971	13.6 °C
1972	13.1 °C
1973	13.9 °C
1974	13.2 °C
1975	13.7 °C
1976	15.0 °C
1977	14.7 °C
1978	14.3 °C
1979	12.8 °C
1980	14.9 °C
1981	13.8 °C
1982	13.2 °C
1983	14.2 °C
1984	14.0 °C
1985	13.6 °C
1986	14.2 °C
1987	15.8 °C
1988	15.9 °C
1989	14.4 °C
1990	14.4 °C
1991	15.0 °C
1992	12.9 °C
1993	12.8 °C
1994	14.3 °C
1995	14.1 °C
1996	13.3 °C
1997	13.3 °C
1998	15.7 °C
1999	14.9 °C
2000	13.9 °C
2001	15.1 °C
2002	14.6 °C
2003	14.4 °C
2004	13.5 °C
2005	15.0 °C
2006	15.6 °C
2007	15.2 °C
2008	13.2 °C
2010	15.0 °C
2011	14.2 °C
2012	15.3 °C
2013	13.4 °C
2014	13.2 °C
2015	14.8 °C
2016	14.8 °C
2019	13.2 °C
2020	13.8 °C
2021	14.8 °C
2022	13.1 °C
2023	14.0 °C
2024	14.7 °C
2025	14.1 °C
2026	14.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1912, Carlton's last spring frost has come about 2 days 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 Cloquet (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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