When to plant in Bethany, MO

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

Safe to plant out

May 2

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 17

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 17

1 year in 10 by Oct 4

Frost-free days

179

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Bethany · 1.3 km away · station 304 m, town 272 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 7 – Mar 21	May 2 – May 16	Jun 26
Sweet pepper	Feb 21 – Mar 7	May 2 – May 16	Jul 1
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 15 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 1
Peas	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	May 16
Bush beans	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jun 14
Carrot	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 31
Beet	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 21
Potato	—	Apr 1 – Apr 22	Jun 10
Kale	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 11
Broccoli	Feb 8 – Feb 22	Mar 22 – Apr 12	May 21
Cucumber	Apr 4 – Apr 11	May 2 – May 16	Jun 21
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 4 – Apr 11	May 2 – May 16	Jun 16
Winter squash	Apr 4 – Apr 11	May 2 – May 16	Jul 21
Sweet corn	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jun 24
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 22 – Apr 12	Jun 20
Garlic	—	Oct 3 – Oct 31 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	Apr 29
Basil	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 2 – May 16	Jun 28

Plan all 65 crops for Bethany

Bethany'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 23
1894	Apr 11
1895	Apr 3
1896	Apr 4
1898	Apr 15
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 13
1901	May 26
1902	Apr 13
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 9
1907	May 4
1908	May 2
1910	Apr 24
1911	Apr 16
1913	Apr 5
1915	May 9
1916	Apr 9
1917	May 7
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 3
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1927	Apr 23
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 5
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 25
1935	Apr 30
1936	Apr 22
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 18
1940	Apr 24
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 4
1943	Apr 24
1944	May 6
1946	May 21
1947	May 9
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	May 7
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 29
1959	May 15
1960	Apr 30
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 18
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 15
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 10
1967	May 21
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 29
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 28
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 20
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 5
1978	Apr 20
1980	Apr 15
1981	Apr 5
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 13
1988	Apr 20
1989	Apr 20
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 23
1993	Apr 6
2001	Apr 26
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 10
2004	Apr 13
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 15
2010	Mar 30
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 12
2013	May 4
2014	Apr 16
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 8
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 14
2020	Apr 19
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 27
2023	Apr 24

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	161
1894	180
1895	179
1898	181
1899	162
1900	156
1901	114
1902	152
1903	158
1904	183
1905	171
1906	152
1907	160
1908	148
1911	192
1915	148
1916	158
1917	151
1918	141
1919	167
1920	155
1921	153
1922	162
1927	173
1928	149
1931	177
1932	161
1933	173
1934	185
1935	156
1936	182
1937	167
1938	183
1939	164
1940	154
1941	186
1942	142
1943	173
1944	158
1946	143
1947	181
1949	162
1950	155
1951	143
1952	169
1953	147
1954	166
1955	182
1956	165
1957	146
1958	154
1959	149
1960	171
1961	148
1962	188
1963	158
1964	173
1965	148
1966	143
1967	129
1968	161
1969	167
1970	160
1971	161
1972	164
1973	184
1974	150
1975	158
1976	150
1977	189
1978	169
1980	179
1985	174
1986	174
1987	172
1988	167
1989	182
1990	175
1991	160
1992	176
1993	186
2001	183
2002	188
2003	175
2004	170
2005	156
2006	185
2007	196
2008	179
2009	178
2010	212
2011	167
2012	176
2013	167
2014	198
2015	188
2016	213
2017	202
2018	176
2019	180
2020	179
2021	192
2022	164
2023	186

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	19.3 °C
1894	20.9 °C
1895	20.7 °C
1896	20.1 °C
1898	19.9 °C
1899	19.6 °C
1900	20.5 °C
1901	20.1 °C
1902	18.6 °C
1903	18.4 °C
1904	17.5 °C
1905	18.8 °C
1906	19.6 °C
1907	18.2 °C
1908	19.1 °C
1909	18.3 °C
1911	21.3 °C
1915	19.1 °C
1916	19.7 °C
1917	18.5 °C
1918	20.9 °C
1919	20.5 °C
1920	19.1 °C
1921	21.4 °C
1927	19.2 °C
1928	19.2 °C
1930	20.7 °C
1931	20.6 °C
1932	20.0 °C
1933	20.7 °C
1934	22.3 °C
1935	19.2 °C
1936	22.4 °C
1937	20.4 °C
1938	20.8 °C
1939	20.9 °C
1940	19.5 °C
1941	21.4 °C
1942	19.8 °C
1943	19.4 °C
1944	19.3 °C
1946	19.3 °C
1947	19.9 °C
1949	19.5 °C
1950	18.1 °C
1952	20.2 °C
1953	20.4 °C
1954	21.2 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	20.7 °C
1957	20.0 °C
1958	19.5 °C
1959	20.3 °C
1960	19.8 °C
1961	18.6 °C
1962	20.0 °C
1963	20.7 °C
1964	20.5 °C
1965	20.1 °C
1966	18.8 °C
1967	18.8 °C
1968	19.7 °C
1969	20.1 °C
1970	20.5 °C
1971	20.1 °C
1972	20.1 °C
1973	19.6 °C
1974	19.7 °C
1975	20.2 °C
1976	20.2 °C
1978	21.4 °C
1979	19.3 °C
1980	21.6 °C
1985	20.0 °C
1986	20.9 °C
1987	20.2 °C
1988	20.8 °C
1989	18.6 °C
1990	19.1 °C
1991	20.3 °C
1992	17.7 °C
1993	18.2 °C
2001	19.9 °C
2002	19.9 °C
2003	19.2 °C
2004	18.8 °C
2005	20.2 °C
2006	19.9 °C
2007	20.0 °C
2008	18.4 °C
2009	18.3 °C
2010	20.6 °C
2011	19.8 °C
2012	21.2 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.8 °C
2015	19.5 °C
2016	19.9 °C
2017	19.7 °C
2018	20.4 °C
2019	20.0 °C
2020	19.3 °C
2021	20.1 °C
2022	19.8 °C
2023	20.3 °C

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

Nearby towns

Albany (near Bethany)Gallatin Lamoni, IA Princeton Trenton Stanberry