When to plant in Grand Marais, MN

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

Safe to plant out

May 29

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 17

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 21

Frost-free days

140

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Grand Marais · 0.5 km away · station 186 m, town 188 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Grand Marais plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 19 – May 3	Jun 14 – Jun 28	Aug 8
Sweet pepper	Apr 5 – Apr 19	Jun 14 – Jun 28	Aug 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 29 – Apr 5	May 3 – May 17	Jun 12
Peas	—	May 3 – May 31	Jun 27
Bush beans	—	Jun 5 – Jun 26	Jul 25
Carrot	—	May 14 – Jun 25	Jul 13
Beet	—	May 14 – Jun 25	Jul 3
Potato	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 23
Kale	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 10 – May 24	Jun 22
Broccoli	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 3 – May 24	Jul 2
Cucumber	May 17 – May 24	Jun 14 – Jun 28	Aug 3
Summer squash and zucchini	May 17 – May 24	Jun 14 – Jun 28	Jul 29
Winter squash	May 17 – May 24	Jun 14 – Jun 28	Sep 2
Sweet corn	—	Jun 5 – Jun 26	Aug 4
Onion (from sets)	—	May 3 – May 24	Aug 1
Garlic	—	Sep 18 – Oct 16 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	May 3 – May 31	Jun 10
Basil	May 3 – May 17	Jun 14 – Jun 28	Aug 10

Plan all 65 crops for Grand Marais

Grand Marais'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
1918	May 26
1919	May 9
1920	May 15
1922	May 3
1924	Jun 3
1925	May 29
1926	May 23
1928	May 7
1929	Jun 13
1930	May 29
1931	May 23
1932	May 4
1933	May 11
1934	May 24
1935	May 16
1936	May 14
1937	May 15
1938	May 13
1939	May 18
1940	May 11
1941	Jun 9
1942	Jun 13
1943	Jun 5
1944	May 9
1945	May 16
1946	May 31
1947	Jul 1
1948	May 28
1949	May 30
1950	Jul 6
1951	May 14
1953	May 20
1954	May 20
1955	May 17
1956	May 25
1957	May 20
1958	May 11
1959	May 15
1960	May 8
1961	May 26
1962	May 9
1963	May 23
1964	May 14
1965	May 1
1966	May 15
1967	May 22
1968	May 10
1969	May 26
1970	May 6
1971	May 21
1972	May 9
1973	May 13
1974	May 13
1975	May 4
1976	May 12
1977	May 10
1978	Jun 9
1979	May 16
1980	Apr 24
1981	May 18
1982	May 1
1983	May 17
1984	May 16
1985	Apr 28
1986	May 3
1987	May 4
1988	May 17
1989	May 12
1990	May 9
1991	May 19
1992	May 26
1993	May 16
1994	May 7
1995	May 17
1996	May 30
1997	May 22
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 24
2000	May 20
2001	May 16
2002	May 21
2003	May 10
2004	May 15
2005	May 4
2006	May 22
2007	May 20
2008	May 28
2010	May 10
2011	May 27
2013	Jun 3
2014	May 17
2015	Jun 1
2016	May 15
2018	May 12
2019	May 12
2020	May 14
2021	May 29
2023	May 30
2024	Apr 26
2025	May 19
2026	May 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1918	125
1919	150
1920	137
1924	117
1925	130
1926	124
1928	138
1929	92
1930	140
1931	141
1932	150
1933	159
1934	156
1935	133
1936	141
1937	144
1938	163
1939	129
1940	136
1941	120
1942	100
1943	131
1944	144
1945	135
1946	133
1947	17
1948	126
1949	144
1950	16
1953	115
1957	127
1958	142
1959	123
1960	162
1961	125
1962	166
1963	162
1964	136
1965	146
1966	138
1967	129
1968	146
1969	138
1970	144
1971	143
1972	143
1973	129
1974	131
1975	131
1976	132
1977	155
1978	120
1979	145
1980	154
1981	132
1982	167
1983	128
1984	132
1985	150
1986	154
1987	151
1988	140
1989	136
1990	150
1991	130
1992	125
1993	136
1994	156
1995	127
1996	121
1997	144
1998	156
1999	149
2002	138
2003	141
2004	139
2005	157
2006	120
2007	114
2008	126
2010	137
2013	140
2014	147
2015	136
2016	161
2018	152
2019	153
2020	142
2021	144
2023	130
2024	172
2025	157

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1918	10.9 °C
1919	12.0 °C
1920	10.8 °C
1922	10.9 °C
1924	9.8 °C
1925	12.1 °C
1926	10.4 °C
1927	9.9 °C
1928	9.7 °C
1929	10.5 °C
1930	11.8 °C
1931	12.1 °C
1932	11.8 °C
1933	11.7 °C
1934	11.2 °C
1935	10.9 °C
1936	11.6 °C
1938	9.8 °C
1939	10.0 °C
1940	10.6 °C
1941	11.2 °C
1942	10.8 °C
1943	9.7 °C
1944	10.7 °C
1945	10.4 °C
1946	10.8 °C
1947	8.7 °C
1948	11.8 °C
1949	11.0 °C
1950	8.6 °C
1953	11.6 °C
1957	11.5 °C
1958	11.9 °C
1959	12.7 °C
1960	12.2 °C
1961	12.2 °C
1962	11.4 °C
1963	11.9 °C
1964	11.9 °C
1965	11.2 °C
1966	11.8 °C
1967	10.9 °C
1968	11.4 °C
1969	11.8 °C
1970	12.4 °C
1971	11.7 °C
1972	11.3 °C
1973	10.9 °C
1974	10.2 °C
1975	11.0 °C
1976	11.9 °C
1977	10.8 °C
1978	11.0 °C
1979	10.3 °C
1980	12.2 °C
1981	11.8 °C
1982	10.3 °C
1983	11.2 °C
1984	11.6 °C
1985	11.0 °C
1986	11.6 °C
1987	13.0 °C
1988	12.9 °C
1989	11.0 °C
1990	11.5 °C
1991	11.8 °C
1992	10.4 °C
1993	10.9 °C
1994	11.5 °C
1995	11.8 °C
1996	10.7 °C
1997	10.8 °C
1998	13.9 °C
1999	12.5 °C
2000	11.9 °C
2002	11.6 °C
2003	12.1 °C
2004	11.5 °C
2005	12.8 °C
2006	13.9 °C
2007	13.2 °C
2008	12.4 °C
2010	13.3 °C
2011	12.7 °C
2013	10.7 °C
2014	10.1 °C
2015	11.2 °C
2016	12.0 °C
2018	10.6 °C
2019	10.4 °C
2020	11.2 °C
2021	12.4 °C
2022	10.3 °C
2024	13.0 °C
2025	11.7 °C
2026	10.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1918, Grand Marais's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Grand Marais (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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