When to plant in Spicer, MN

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

Safe to plant out

May 14

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 7

1 year in 10 by Sep 26

Frost-free days

156

median, 1991–2020

Station used: New London · 8.0 km away · station 381 m, town 358 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Spicer plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 19 – Apr 2	May 14 – May 28	Jul 8
Sweet pepper	Mar 5 – Mar 19	May 14 – May 28	Jul 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 6 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 20
Peas	—	Apr 10 – May 8	Jun 4
Bush beans	—	May 7 – May 28	Jun 26
Carrot	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 18
Beet	—	Apr 19 – May 31	Jun 8
Potato	—	Apr 19 – May 10	Jun 28
Kale	Mar 6 – Mar 20	Apr 17 – May 1	May 30
Broccoli	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – May 1	Jun 9
Cucumber	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Jul 3
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Jun 28
Winter squash	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Aug 2
Sweet corn	—	May 7 – May 28	Jul 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 10 – May 1	Jul 9
Garlic	—	Sep 23 – Oct 21 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 10 – May 8	May 18
Basil	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 14 – May 28	Jul 10

Plan all 65 crops for Spicer

Spicer'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
1895	May 21
1896	Apr 21
1897	Jun 8
1898	May 11
1899	May 13
1900	Jun 12
1901	May 12
1902	Apr 25
1903	May 2
1904	Apr 28
1905	May 9
1906	May 8
1907	May 27
1908	May 7
1909	May 10
1910	Jun 2
1911	May 12
1913	Apr 27
1914	May 12
1915	May 19
1916	May 3
1917	May 5
1918	May 13
1919	May 5
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 26
1923	May 13
1924	May 25
1925	May 24
1926	May 22
1927	Apr 23
1928	Apr 26
1929	May 20
1930	May 17
1931	May 21
1932	May 1
1933	May 10
1934	May 16
1935	May 4
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 8
1939	May 12
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 15
1943	May 17
1944	May 6
1945	May 17
1946	May 17
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	May 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 17
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 4
1957	May 4
1958	May 1
1959	May 15
1960	May 8
1961	May 9
1962	Apr 23
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 18
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 11
1967	May 20
1968	May 18
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1976	May 7
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 2
1979	May 21
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	May 7
1983	May 9
1984	May 8
1985	Apr 9
1986	May 2
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 7
1990	May 2
1991	May 2
1992	May 5
1993	Apr 30
1994	May 5
1995	Apr 27
1996	May 13
1997	May 20
1998	Apr 17
1999	Apr 24
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 25
2002	May 10
2003	Apr 22
2004	May 26
2005	May 12
2006	Apr 25
2007	Apr 15
2008	May 11
2009	Apr 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1895	124
1896	156
1897	122
1899	137
1901	138
1902	139
1903	158
1904	145
1905	153
1906	153
1907	119
1908	143
1909	152
1910	116
1911	156
1913	147
1914	154
1915	138
1916	136
1917	154
1918	126
1919	157
1920	178
1921	140
1922	168
1923	144
1924	126
1925	131
1926	125
1927	149
1928	149
1929	120
1930	133
1931	125
1932	150
1933	150
1934	127
1935	151
1937	152
1938	164
1939	136
1940	157
1941	157
1942	130
1943	122
1944	155
1945	134
1946	147
1947	115
1948	179
1949	126
1950	154
1951	153
1952	169
1953	145
1954	136
1955	158
1956	148
1957	167
1958	152
1959	146
1960	144
1961	138
1962	149
1963	158
1964	170
1966	142
1967	129
1968	138
1969	152
1976	138
1977	176
1978	163
1979	137
1980	136
1981	139
1982	161
1983	136
1984	140
1985	167
1986	159
1987	180
1988	158
1989	129
1990	159
1991	147
1992	158
1993	150
1994	172
1995	147
1996	142
1997	145
1998	178
1999	160
2000	155
2001	162
2002	149
2003	160
2004	128
2005	147
2006	168
2007	194
2008	157

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	16.0 °C
1895	17.4 °C
1897	15.1 °C
1899	16.0 °C
1901	17.7 °C
1902	15.4 °C
1903	15.3 °C
1904	15.2 °C
1905	16.0 °C
1906	16.4 °C
1907	13.5 °C
1908	16.3 °C
1909	14.9 °C
1910	15.3 °C
1911	16.6 °C
1912	16.2 °C
1913	16.8 °C
1914	16.4 °C
1915	14.3 °C
1916	15.6 °C
1917	14.9 °C
1918	15.8 °C
1919	16.8 °C
1920	15.7 °C
1921	17.9 °C
1922	17.3 °C
1923	16.8 °C
1924	14.4 °C
1925	16.3 °C
1926	15.7 °C
1927	15.4 °C
1928	15.3 °C
1929	15.8 °C
1930	17.1 °C
1931	17.6 °C
1932	16.4 °C
1933	17.5 °C
1934	17.1 °C
1935	16.1 °C
1937	16.6 °C
1938	16.3 °C
1939	17.9 °C
1940	16.9 °C
1941	18.1 °C
1942	16.0 °C
1943	16.2 °C
1944	17.0 °C
1945	15.5 °C
1946	16.8 °C
1947	16.6 °C
1948	18.4 °C
1949	18.1 °C
1950	15.6 °C
1951	15.6 °C
1952	17.5 °C
1953	17.1 °C
1954	16.6 °C
1955	19.1 °C
1956	16.4 °C
1957	16.7 °C
1958	16.9 °C
1959	18.0 °C
1960	16.4 °C
1961	15.8 °C
1962	15.5 °C
1963	17.1 °C
1964	17.2 °C
1966	15.8 °C
1967	15.3 °C
1968	16.1 °C
1969	16.5 °C
1970	16.8 °C
1976	18.4 °C
1977	18.3 °C
1978	17.4 °C
1979	15.8 °C
1980	17.8 °C
1981	17.0 °C
1982	16.6 °C
1983	17.6 °C
1984	17.1 °C
1985	17.1 °C
1986	17.1 °C
1987	18.8 °C
1988	19.6 °C
1989	16.4 °C
1990	17.0 °C
1991	17.6 °C
1992	15.6 °C
1993	15.5 °C
1994	17.1 °C
1995	16.4 °C
1996	15.8 °C
1997	16.1 °C
1998	18.1 °C
1999	17.4 °C
2000	17.0 °C
2001	17.5 °C
2002	17.0 °C
2003	17.0 °C
2004	16.4 °C
2005	18.1 °C
2006	18.1 °C
2007	18.0 °C
2008	15.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1895, Spicer'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 New London (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

New London Willmar Atwater Paynesville Eden Valley Litchfield