When to plant in Cullowhee, NC

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

Safe to plant out

May 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 20

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 20

1 year in 10 by Oct 7

Frost-free days

180

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Cullowhee · 0.3 km away · station 668 m, town 645 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 10 – Mar 24	May 5 – May 19	Jun 29
Sweet pepper	Feb 24 – Mar 10	May 5 – May 19	Jul 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 16 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 2
Peas	—	Mar 9 – Apr 6	May 3
Bush beans	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 17
Carrot	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 29
Beet	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 12
Potato	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 8
Kale	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 5
Broccoli	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 13	May 22
Cucumber	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jun 24
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jun 19
Winter squash	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jul 24
Sweet corn	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 27
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 23 – Apr 13	Jun 21
Garlic	—	Oct 6 – Nov 3 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 9 – Apr 6	Apr 16
Basil	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 5 – May 19	Jul 1

Plan all 65 crops for Cullowhee

Cullowhee'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
1910	May 15
1911	Apr 25
1913	Apr 22
1914	Apr 21
1915	Apr 19
1916	Apr 30
1917	May 15
1918	May 3
1919	Apr 27
1920	Apr 29
1921	May 2
1922	Apr 23
1923	May 11
1924	May 18
1925	May 2
1926	May 5
1927	May 17
1928	Apr 29
1929	Apr 23
1930	Apr 27
1931	May 24
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 28
1934	Apr 26
1935	Apr 17
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 11
1939	May 4
1940	May 5
1941	May 14
1942	Apr 23
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 14
1945	Apr 9
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 19
1949	Apr 26
1950	Apr 22
1951	May 13
1952	May 14
1953	Apr 28
1954	May 22
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 22
1957	May 6
1958	Apr 23
1959	Apr 24
1960	May 14
1961	May 28
1962	Apr 22
1963	May 3
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 30
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	May 7
1969	May 13
1970	May 7
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 18
1974	Apr 26
1975	Apr 21
1976	May 19
1977	May 11
1978	Apr 28
1979	May 26
1980	Apr 17
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 24
1983	Apr 22
1984	May 31
1985	Apr 11
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 10
1988	Apr 20
1989	May 13
1990	Apr 13
1991	Apr 1
1992	Apr 29
1993	Apr 23
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 26
1996	May 1
1997	May 11
1998	Apr 13
1999	Apr 20
2000	Apr 28
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 8
2003	Apr 2
2004	May 5
2005	Apr 28
2006	Apr 11
2007	Apr 11
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 12
2010	Apr 29
2011	May 6
2012	Apr 14
2013	Apr 27
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 11
2017	Apr 9
2018	May 1
2019	Apr 4
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 21
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 8
2025	Apr 14
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1910	160
1911	181
1913	173
1914	189
1915	172
1916	154
1917	150
1918	140
1919	192
1920	155
1921	155
1922	172
1923	162
1924	135
1925	161
1926	168
1927	149
1928	149
1929	175
1930	173
1931	129
1932	161
1933	163
1934	180
1935	170
1937	180
1938	193
1939	163
1940	144
1941	149
1942	158
1943	157
1944	184
1946	155
1947	139
1948	181
1949	191
1950	173
1951	150
1952	141
1953	138
1954	147
1955	183
1956	168
1957	165
1958	171
1959	184
1960	163
1961	139
1962	184
1963	143
1964	172
1965	161
1966	143
1967	153
1968	150
1969	157
1970	150
1971	159
1972	175
1973	151
1974	159
1975	164
1976	151
1977	154
1978	162
1979	140
1980	178
1981	152
1983	154
1984	123
1985	178
1986	193
1987	176
1988	175
1989	149
1990	195
1991	188
1992	172
1993	160
1994	201
1995	173
1996	171
1997	164
1998	192
1999	186
2000	163
2001	171
2002	207
2003	221
2004	165
2005	180
2006	185
2007	200
2008	172
2009	189
2010	170
2011	149
2012	200
2013	179
2014	169
2015	194
2016	194
2017	198
2018	173
2019	196
2020	175
2021	187
2022	179
2023	164
2024	191
2025	192

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1910	18.9 °C
1911	20.0 °C
1913	19.5 °C
1914	19.8 °C
1915	19.6 °C
1916	19.4 °C
1917	18.5 °C
1918	19.4 °C
1919	19.5 °C
1920	19.4 °C
1921	20.1 °C
1922	19.8 °C
1923	19.4 °C
1924	18.8 °C
1925	20.2 °C
1926	19.9 °C
1927	19.8 °C
1928	18.9 °C
1929	19.5 °C
1930	19.6 °C
1931	19.8 °C
1932	19.6 °C
1933	20.0 °C
1934	20.4 °C
1935	20.0 °C
1937	19.8 °C
1938	19.9 °C
1939	20.0 °C
1940	18.6 °C
1941	20.1 °C
1942	19.8 °C
1943	19.8 °C
1944	19.8 °C
1945	19.8 °C
1946	19.6 °C
1947	19.6 °C
1948	19.7 °C
1949	19.5 °C
1950	19.1 °C
1951	19.5 °C
1952	20.0 °C
1953	19.9 °C
1954	19.9 °C
1955	20.1 °C
1956	19.3 °C
1957	20.3 °C
1958	19.7 °C
1959	20.2 °C
1960	19.7 °C
1961	18.6 °C
1962	19.4 °C
1963	19.1 °C
1964	19.2 °C
1965	19.6 °C
1966	18.6 °C
1967	18.3 °C
1968	18.9 °C
1969	19.2 °C
1970	19.7 °C
1971	18.9 °C
1972	18.5 °C
1973	18.8 °C
1974	18.6 °C
1975	19.4 °C
1976	18.4 °C
1977	20.1 °C
1978	19.7 °C
1979	19.2 °C
1980	19.9 °C
1981	19.1 °C
1983	18.4 °C
1984	18.1 °C
1985	19.6 °C
1986	20.5 °C
1987	20.4 °C
1988	19.5 °C
1989	19.3 °C
1990	19.8 °C
1991	20.8 °C
1992	19.1 °C
1993	20.1 °C
1994	19.6 °C
1995	20.0 °C
1996	19.6 °C
1997	18.3 °C
1998	20.2 °C
1999	19.5 °C
2000	19.3 °C
2001	19.2 °C
2002	20.2 °C
2003	19.5 °C
2004	19.4 °C
2005	19.4 °C
2006	19.7 °C
2007	19.7 °C
2008	19.8 °C
2009	19.4 °C
2010	21.1 °C
2011	20.7 °C
2012	20.4 °C
2013	19.3 °C
2014	19.9 °C
2015	20.3 °C
2016	20.9 °C
2017	20.1 °C
2018	20.6 °C
2019	20.8 °C
2020	19.5 °C
2021	19.5 °C
2022	20.2 °C
2023	19.7 °C
2024	20.7 °C
2025	20.6 °C
2026	21.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1910, Cullowhee'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 Cullowhee (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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