When to plant in Icard, NC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 31

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 31

1 year in 10 by Oct 18

Frost-free days

212

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Hickory Faa Ap · 8.1 km away · station 357 m, town 362 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Icard plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 4
Sweet pepper	Jan 30 – Feb 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 9
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 27 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 12
Peas	—	Feb 17 – Mar 17	Apr 13
Bush beans	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	May 23
Carrot	—	Mar 10 – Apr 21	May 9
Beet	—	Mar 3 – Apr 14	Apr 22
Potato	—	Mar 10 – Mar 31	May 19
Kale	Jan 20 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 15
Broccoli	Jan 20 – Feb 3	Mar 3 – Mar 24	May 2
Cucumber	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 25
Winter squash	Mar 13 – Mar 20	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 29
Sweet corn	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 2
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 3 – Mar 24	Jun 1
Garlic	—	Oct 17 – Nov 14 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 17 – Mar 17	Mar 27
Basil	Feb 27 – Mar 13	Apr 10 – Apr 24	Jun 6

Plan all 65 crops for Icard

Icard'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
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 16
1951	Apr 18
1952	Mar 29
1953	Apr 21
1954	Mar 22
1955	Mar 31
1956	Apr 21
1957	Mar 29
1958	Apr 8
1959	Apr 5
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 14
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 1
1965	Apr 3
1966	Apr 10
1967	Mar 20
1968	Mar 26
1969	Apr 1
1970	Mar 27
1971	Apr 15
1972	Apr 27
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 25
1975	Apr 13
1976	Apr 13
1977	Mar 23
1978	Mar 18
1979	Mar 26
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 7
1982	Apr 23
1983	Apr 21
1984	Mar 12
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 4
1988	Mar 28
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 19
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 6
1993	Apr 3
1994	Apr 8
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 10
1998	Mar 23
1999	Mar 16
2000	Apr 9
2001	Mar 28
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 1
2004	Mar 24
2005	Mar 19
2006	Mar 27
2007	Apr 10
2008	Mar 25
2009	Mar 22
2010	Mar 27
2011	Mar 29
2012	Mar 11
2013	Mar 29
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 23
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 2
2020	Mar 9
2021	Apr 22
2022	Mar 14
2023	Mar 21
2024	Mar 25

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1949	200
1950	203
1951	198
1952	205
1953	198
1954	222
1955	217
1956	203
1957	204
1958	213
1959	216
1960	209
1961	195
1962	191
1963	184
1964	192
1965	204
1966	206
1967	229
1968	214
1969	205
1970	204
1971	203
1972	175
1973	206
1974	160
1975	200
1976	187
1977	208
1978	257
1979	214
1980	208
1981	196
1982	195
1983	197
1984	239
1985	235
1986	203
1987	200
1988	198
1989	185
1990	190
1991	217
1992	196
1993	211
1994	201
1996	206
1998	213
1999	222
2000	183
2001	193
2002	208
2003	226
2004	230
2005	242
2006	200
2007	206
2008	218
2009	210
2010	223
2011	215
2012	240
2013	208
2014	199
2015	196
2016	216
2017	220
2018	203
2019	215
2020	253
2021	205
2022	243
2023	224
2024	241

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1949	21.0 °C
1950	20.9 °C
1951	21.4 °C
1952	22.0 °C
1953	22.0 °C
1954	22.3 °C
1955	22.1 °C
1956	21.3 °C
1957	21.8 °C
1958	21.4 °C
1959	22.1 °C
1960	21.5 °C
1961	20.0 °C
1962	21.2 °C
1963	20.9 °C
1964	21.0 °C
1965	21.5 °C
1966	20.7 °C
1967	20.0 °C
1968	21.0 °C
1969	21.1 °C
1970	21.8 °C
1971	20.4 °C
1972	20.3 °C
1973	21.1 °C
1974	19.9 °C
1975	21.0 °C
1976	20.0 °C
1977	22.2 °C
1978	21.6 °C
1979	21.4 °C
1980	21.7 °C
1981	22.2 °C
1982	21.3 °C
1983	20.8 °C
1984	20.8 °C
1985	21.6 °C
1986	22.1 °C
1987	22.1 °C
1988	21.4 °C
1989	20.8 °C
1990	21.6 °C
1991	22.1 °C
1992	20.5 °C
1993	21.9 °C
1994	21.2 °C
1996	21.5 °C
1998	22.1 °C
1999	21.5 °C
2000	21.1 °C
2001	21.1 °C
2002	22.1 °C
2003	20.3 °C
2004	21.4 °C
2005	21.6 °C
2006	21.9 °C
2007	22.5 °C
2008	21.6 °C
2009	21.4 °C
2010	23.1 °C
2011	22.5 °C
2012	22.0 °C
2013	21.0 °C
2014	21.5 °C
2015	22.5 °C
2016	22.7 °C
2017	21.9 °C
2018	22.3 °C
2019	22.7 °C
2020	20.9 °C
2021	21.8 °C
2022	22.1 °C
2023	21.4 °C
2024	22.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1949, Icard's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Hickory Faa Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Connelly Springs Hildebran Rutherford College Rhodhiss Longview Valdese