When to plant in Waterville, MN

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

Safe to plant out

May 13

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

Sep 30

1 year in 10 by Sep 15

Frost-free days

151

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Waseca S Rsch & Outreach Ctr · 16.8 km away · station 350 m, town 309 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 18 – Apr 1	May 13 – May 27	Jul 7
Sweet pepper	Mar 4 – Mar 18	May 13 – May 27	Jul 12
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 6 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 20
Peas	—	Apr 10 – May 8	Jun 4
Bush beans	—	May 6 – May 27	Jun 25
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 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Jul 2
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Jun 27
Winter squash	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Aug 1
Sweet corn	—	May 6 – May 27	Jul 5
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 10 – May 1	Jul 9
Garlic	—	Sep 16 – Oct 14 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 10 – May 8	May 18
Basil	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 13 – May 27	Jul 9

Plan all 65 crops for Waterville

Waterville'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
1915	May 18
1916	Jun 6
1917	May 24
1918	May 14
1919	May 2
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 22
1923	May 17
1924	May 25
1925	May 25
1926	May 3
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 19
1930	May 30
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	May 14
1938	May 8
1939	May 11
1940	May 15
1941	Apr 24
1942	Apr 17
1943	May 13
1944	May 6
1945	Jun 3
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	May 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 26
1952	May 29
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 16
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 11
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 23
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 18
1965	May 29
1966	May 12
1967	May 20
1968	May 10
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 12
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 18
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 2
1979	May 12
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 22
1983	Apr 20
1984	May 8
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 28
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 7
1990	May 2
1991	Apr 24
1992	May 26
1993	Apr 30
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 28
1996	May 13
1997	May 20
1998	Apr 17
1999	May 9
2000	Apr 21
2001	Apr 19
2002	May 10
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 30
2009	May 2
2010	May 9
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 24
2013	May 12
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 24
2016	May 16
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 28
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 12
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 28
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 16
2026	May 6

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1916	100
1917	108
1918	126
1919	145
1920	154
1921	139
1922	169
1923	118
1924	127
1925	133
1926	144
1927	148
1928	147
1929	117
1930	119
1931	157
1932	154
1933	167
1934	141
1935	145
1936	161
1937	124
1938	164
1939	137
1940	132
1941	157
1942	159
1943	126
1944	155
1945	116
1946	139
1947	115
1948	179
1949	127
1950	154
1951	154
1952	126
1953	131
1954	136
1955	125
1956	126
1957	157
1958	154
1959	169
1960	157
1961	145
1962	134
1963	157
1966	141
1967	126
1968	146
1969	153
1970	160
1971	127
1972	156
1973	150
1974	119
1975	142
1976	137
1977	177
1978	158
1979	147
1980	130
1981	139
1982	151
1983	155
1984	129
1985	168
1986	166
1987	157
1988	157
1989	138
1990	151
1991	148
1992	125
1993	149
1994	160
1995	146
1996	123
1997	146
1998	178
1999	134
2000	152
2001	158
2002	136
2003	154
2004	151
2005	156
2006	136
2007	151
2008	154
2009	159
2010	146
2011	134
2012	151
2013	153
2014	147
2015	174
2016	144
2017	170
2018	153
2019	165
2020	142
2021	157
2022	152
2023	159
2024	167
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1915	16.1 °C
1916	15.5 °C
1917	14.4 °C
1918	15.7 °C
1919	17.0 °C
1920	16.4 °C
1921	18.8 °C
1922	18.1 °C
1923	17.6 °C
1924	15.1 °C
1925	17.5 °C
1926	16.4 °C
1927	16.3 °C
1928	16.1 °C
1929	16.6 °C
1930	17.8 °C
1931	18.7 °C
1932	17.6 °C
1933	18.4 °C
1934	18.5 °C
1935	16.4 °C
1936	18.2 °C
1937	17.9 °C
1938	17.7 °C
1939	18.2 °C
1940	16.8 °C
1941	18.3 °C
1942	16.8 °C
1943	16.8 °C
1944	17.1 °C
1945	15.5 °C
1946	17.0 °C
1947	16.9 °C
1948	18.1 °C
1949	18.2 °C
1950	15.5 °C
1951	15.4 °C
1952	17.2 °C
1953	16.6 °C
1954	16.9 °C
1955	19.1 °C
1956	16.5 °C
1957	17.0 °C
1958	16.9 °C
1959	18.1 °C
1960	17.0 °C
1961	16.1 °C
1962	15.8 °C
1963	17.2 °C
1964	16.7 °C
1966	15.2 °C
1967	15.0 °C
1968	15.9 °C
1969	16.1 °C
1970	16.6 °C
1971	16.3 °C
1972	15.7 °C
1973	16.1 °C
1974	15.5 °C
1975	15.9 °C
1976	17.1 °C
1977	17.8 °C
1978	16.9 °C
1979	15.3 °C
1980	16.4 °C
1981	16.4 °C
1982	15.8 °C
1983	16.6 °C
1984	16.3 °C
1985	16.5 °C
1986	16.7 °C
1987	18.0 °C
1988	18.6 °C
1989	16.9 °C
1990	17.1 °C
1991	17.9 °C
1992	15.3 °C
1993	15.7 °C
1994	16.9 °C
1995	16.7 °C
1996	15.7 °C
1997	16.2 °C
1998	18.3 °C
1999	17.4 °C
2000	17.2 °C
2001	17.3 °C
2002	17.1 °C
2003	16.7 °C
2004	16.5 °C
2005	18.1 °C
2006	17.7 °C
2007	17.6 °C
2008	16.2 °C
2009	16.2 °C
2010	17.9 °C
2011	17.0 °C
2012	17.9 °C
2013	16.2 °C
2014	16.3 °C
2015	17.4 °C
2016	18.3 °C
2017	17.5 °C
2018	16.9 °C
2019	16.6 °C
2020	16.9 °C
2021	17.8 °C
2022	16.8 °C
2023	18.0 °C
2024	17.8 °C
2025	17.8 °C
2026	17.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1915, Waterville'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 Waseca S Rsch & Outreach Ctr (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Janesville Waseca Madison Lake Le Center Montgomery Faribault