When to plant in Cold Spring, MN

Planting dates worked out from Cold Spring'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 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 8

1 year in 10 by Sep 29

Frost-free days

157

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Collegeville St John's · 14.0 km away · station 369 m, town 335 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Cold Spring plan

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 7 – Mar 14	Apr 11 – Apr 25	May 21
Peas	—	Apr 11 – May 9	Jun 5
Bush beans	—	May 8 – May 29	Jun 27
Carrot	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 18
Beet	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 8
Potato	—	Apr 19 – May 10	Jun 28
Kale	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	May 31
Broccoli	Feb 28 – Mar 14	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 10
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 11 – May 2	Jul 10
Garlic	—	Sep 24 – Oct 22 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 11 – May 9	May 19
Basil	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 15 – May 29	Jul 11

Plan all 65 crops for Cold Spring

Cold Spring'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	Apr 30
1894	Apr 21
1896	Apr 21
1897	Apr 30
1898	Apr 26
1900	Apr 12
1901	May 12
1902	May 10
1903	May 1
1904	May 15
1905	May 9
1906	May 27
1907	May 27
1908	May 6
1909	May 9
1910	May 11
1912	Apr 27
1913	May 25
1914	May 12
1915	May 18
1916	May 2
1917	May 27
1918	May 13
1919	May 5
1920	May 3
1921	May 15
1922	Apr 26
1923	May 12
1924	May 24
1925	May 24
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 16
1930	May 17
1931	May 8
1932	May 1
1933	May 10
1934	Apr 28
1935	May 4
1936	May 3
1937	Apr 22
1938	May 11
1939	Apr 21
1940	May 2
1941	Apr 21
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	May 10
1952	Apr 14
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 4
1957	May 4
1958	May 4
1959	May 15
1960	May 11
1961	May 9
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 20
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 10
1967	May 20
1968	May 18
1969	Apr 28
1970	May 2
1971	May 19
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 4
1974	May 15
1975	Apr 21
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 2
1979	May 12
1980	Apr 24
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 27
1983	May 16
1984	May 1
1985	Apr 11
1986	May 2
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 6
1990	May 2
1991	Apr 24
1992	Apr 27
1993	Apr 26
1994	May 5
1995	Apr 27
1996	May 12
1997	May 15
1998	Apr 16
1999	Apr 24
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 22
2002	May 3
2003	Apr 22
2004	May 15
2005	May 3
2006	May 22
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 14
2010	May 9
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 20
2013	May 12
2014	Apr 26
2015	May 19
2016	May 15
2017	May 1
2018	May 4
2019	May 20
2020	May 12
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 28
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 20
2026	May 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	147
1894	155
1896	150
1897	161
1898	170
1900	206
1901	156
1902	156
1903	174
1904	128
1905	154
1906	133
1907	120
1908	144
1909	154
1910	161
1912	151
1913	119
1914	154
1915	139
1916	167
1917	105
1918	129
1919	157
1920	176
1921	144
1922	168
1923	123
1924	149
1925	134
1926	143
1927	148
1928	148
1929	124
1930	133
1931	156
1932	160
1933	155
1934	145
1935	145
1936	150
1937	168
1938	163
1939	156
1940	165
1949	156
1950	154
1951	136
1952	172
1953	145
1954	150
1955	159
1956	157
1957	166
1958	153
1959	146
1960	159
1961	141
1962	186
1963	159
1964	147
1965	150
1966	157
1967	129
1968	138
1969	166
1970	159
1971	145
1972	157
1973	138
1974	110
1975	177
1977	196
1978	163
1979	146
1980	170
1981	143
1982	175
1983	129
1984	147
1985	167
1986	159
1987	179
1988	158
1989	149
1990	159
1991	155
1992	154
1993	158
1994	173
1995	147
1996	143
1997	150
1998	179
1999	160
2000	155
2001	166
2002	156
2003	160
2004	141
2005	156
2006	140
2007	193
2008	169
2009	177
2010	170
2011	168
2012	167
2013	160
2014	165
2015	140
2016	145
2017	161
2018	147
2019	143
2020	142
2021	163
2023	166
2024	174
2025	185

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	16.4 °C
1894	18.4 °C
1896	17.0 °C
1897	16.4 °C
1898	16.4 °C
1900	17.9 °C
1901	17.1 °C
1902	15.4 °C
1903	15.4 °C
1904	14.5 °C
1905	15.3 °C
1906	16.5 °C
1907	13.8 °C
1908	16.0 °C
1909	15.2 °C
1910	17.1 °C
1912	15.9 °C
1913	16.0 °C
1914	15.9 °C
1915	14.8 °C
1916	15.3 °C
1917	14.4 °C
1918	15.5 °C
1919	16.4 °C
1920	15.5 °C
1921	17.6 °C
1922	16.9 °C
1923	16.4 °C
1924	14.0 °C
1925	16.5 °C
1926	15.6 °C
1927	14.7 °C
1928	14.8 °C
1929	15.0 °C
1930	16.7 °C
1931	17.1 °C
1932	16.5 °C
1933	17.5 °C
1934	17.0 °C
1935	15.7 °C
1936	17.1 °C
1937	16.6 °C
1938	15.9 °C
1939	16.2 °C
1940	15.3 °C
1949	17.5 °C
1950	14.8 °C
1951	14.8 °C
1952	16.9 °C
1953	16.1 °C
1954	15.4 °C
1955	18.0 °C
1956	15.4 °C
1957	16.0 °C
1958	16.2 °C
1959	17.2 °C
1960	16.3 °C
1961	15.9 °C
1962	15.7 °C
1963	17.0 °C
1964	16.8 °C
1965	14.9 °C
1966	15.8 °C
1967	15.3 °C
1968	16.0 °C
1969	16.1 °C
1970	16.6 °C
1971	15.9 °C
1972	15.5 °C
1973	16.2 °C
1974	15.6 °C
1975	15.7 °C
1976	18.0 °C
1977	18.0 °C
1978	17.0 °C
1979	15.4 °C
1980	17.4 °C
1981	16.6 °C
1982	16.4 °C
1983	17.2 °C
1984	16.8 °C
1985	16.7 °C
1986	17.0 °C
1987	18.7 °C
1988	19.2 °C
1989	17.2 °C
1990	16.8 °C
1991	17.7 °C
1992	15.5 °C
1993	15.3 °C
1994	16.9 °C
1995	16.7 °C
1996	16.1 °C
1997	16.3 °C
1998	18.2 °C
1999	17.4 °C
2000	17.1 °C
2001	17.6 °C
2002	16.7 °C
2003	17.0 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	18.2 °C
2006	18.3 °C
2007	18.2 °C
2008	16.4 °C
2009	16.3 °C
2010	18.0 °C
2011	17.5 °C
2012	18.2 °C
2013	15.9 °C
2014	16.1 °C
2015	16.8 °C
2016	16.8 °C
2017	16.5 °C
2018	16.5 °C
2019	15.9 °C
2020	16.7 °C
2021	17.5 °C
2022	17.1 °C
2023	17.4 °C
2025	17.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Cold Spring'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 Collegeville St John's (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Richmond Rockville Saint Joseph Collegeville Eden Valley Avon