When to plant in Granite Falls, MN

Planting dates worked out from Granite Falls'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 5

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 20

Frost-free days

150

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Montevideo 1sw · 21.0 km away · station 302 m, town 280 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 10 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	May 24
Peas	—	Apr 14 – May 12	Jun 8
Bush beans	—	May 8 – May 29	Jun 27
Carrot	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 21
Beet	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 11
Potato	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jul 1
Kale	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 3
Broccoli	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 13
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 14 – May 5	Jul 13
Garlic	—	Sep 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 14 – May 12	May 22
Basil	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 15 – May 29	Jul 11

Plan all 65 crops for Granite Falls

Granite Falls'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 29
1894	Apr 22
1895	May 21
1896	Apr 21
1897	May 31
1899	May 17
1900	May 9
1901	Jun 7
1902	May 11
1903	May 2
1904	Apr 27
1905	Apr 30
1906	May 8
1907	May 27
1908	May 7
1909	May 10
1910	May 13
1911	May 22
1912	Apr 29
1913	May 10
1914	May 12
1915	May 18
1916	May 3
1917	May 23
1918	May 13
1919	May 5
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 26
1923	May 12
1924	May 24
1925	May 17
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 23
1929	May 20
1930	May 24
1931	May 20
1932	May 1
1933	May 3
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	May 3
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 7
1939	May 12
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 3
1943	May 13
1944	May 7
1945	May 10
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 15
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 4
1957	May 4
1958	May 1
1959	May 15
1960	May 11
1961	May 16
1962	Apr 28
1963	May 23
1964	Jun 2
1965	May 28
1966	May 11
1967	May 20
1968	May 18
1969	Apr 28
1970	May 2
1971	May 26
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 17
1974	May 15
1975	May 1
1976	May 7
1977	Apr 25
1978	Apr 24
1979	May 3
1980	May 8
1981	May 11
1982	May 7
1983	Apr 30
1984	May 9
1985	Apr 26
1986	May 2
1987	Apr 6
1988	May 13
1989	May 7
1990	May 11
1991	May 2
1992	May 5
1993	Apr 30
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 27
1996	May 13
1997	May 15
2006	Apr 27
2009	May 10
2010	May 10
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 20
2013	May 13
2014	May 17
2015	Apr 28
2016	May 15
2017	May 2
2018	Apr 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	148
1894	141
1895	130
1896	150
1897	130
1899	118
1901	113
1902	123
1903	133
1904	161
1905	164
1906	150
1907	120
1908	143
1909	156
1910	118
1911	137
1912	148
1913	134
1914	154
1915	139
1916	134
1917	135
1918	126
1919	157
1920	154
1921	139
1922	152
1923	123
1924	161
1925	141
1926	143
1927	152
1929	120
1930	126
1931	126
1932	150
1933	161
1934	146
1935	145
1936	146
1937	152
1938	167
1939	135
1940	144
1941	156
1942	143
1943	153
1944	154
1945	141
1946	152
1947	115
1948	179
1949	156
1950	154
1951	153
1952	171
1953	145
1954	136
1955	159
1956	148
1957	166
1958	152
1959	146
1960	124
1961	131
1962	144
1963	157
1964	100
1966	137
1967	126
1968	138
1969	168
1970	158
1971	114
1972	156
1973	125
1974	110
1975	152
1976	137
1977	159
1978	166
1980	137
1981	139
1982	136
1983	145
1984	139
1985	152
1986	156
1987	179
1988	143
1989	138
1991	155
1992	145
1993	137
1994	174
1995	147
1996	141
1997	151
2006	146
2009	149
2010	158
2011	133
2012	155
2013	152
2014	141
2015	170
2016	145
2017	160
2018	152

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	16.0 °C
1894	18.2 °C
1895	17.5 °C
1896	16.7 °C
1897	16.5 °C
1899	16.6 °C
1901	17.9 °C
1902	15.1 °C
1903	15.0 °C
1904	15.5 °C
1905	16.2 °C
1906	17.3 °C
1907	14.5 °C
1908	16.7 °C
1909	16.2 °C
1910	17.2 °C
1911	17.2 °C
1912	16.3 °C
1913	17.1 °C
1914	17.4 °C
1915	16.2 °C
1916	16.6 °C
1917	15.7 °C
1918	16.4 °C
1919	17.4 °C
1920	16.6 °C
1921	18.5 °C
1922	18.2 °C
1923	17.4 °C
1924	15.3 °C
1925	17.8 °C
1926	16.7 °C
1927	16.4 °C
1929	16.4 °C
1930	16.9 °C
1931	18.6 °C
1932	17.1 °C
1933	18.3 °C
1934	18.3 °C
1935	16.8 °C
1936	17.8 °C
1937	17.7 °C
1938	17.2 °C
1939	18.1 °C
1940	16.6 °C
1941	17.6 °C
1942	16.0 °C
1943	16.8 °C
1944	16.7 °C
1945	15.0 °C
1946	16.7 °C
1947	16.2 °C
1948	17.6 °C
1949	17.6 °C
1950	15.1 °C
1951	15.2 °C
1952	17.2 °C
1953	16.3 °C
1954	16.1 °C
1955	18.5 °C
1956	15.8 °C
1957	16.1 °C
1958	16.2 °C
1959	17.3 °C
1960	16.4 °C
1961	15.9 °C
1962	16.1 °C
1963	17.4 °C
1964	16.8 °C
1966	16.1 °C
1967	15.8 °C
1969	16.8 °C
1970	17.4 °C
1971	16.2 °C
1972	16.5 °C
1973	16.7 °C
1974	16.4 °C
1975	16.9 °C
1976	18.8 °C
1977	18.4 °C
1978	18.2 °C
1979	16.9 °C
1980	19.0 °C
1981	18.0 °C
1982	17.2 °C
1984	16.2 °C
1991	17.9 °C
1992	15.4 °C
1994	16.4 °C
1995	15.9 °C
1996	15.6 °C
1997	16.1 °C
2006	16.8 °C
2007	17.0 °C
2008	15.9 °C
2009	15.6 °C
2010	17.2 °C
2011	16.6 °C
2012	17.8 °C
2013	15.5 °C
2014	15.8 °C
2015	16.9 °C
2016	17.1 °C
2017	16.5 °C
2018	16.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Granite Falls'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 Montevideo 1sw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Montevideo Clara City Cottonwood Renville Dawson Olivia