When to plant in Pilot Mountain, NC

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

Safe to plant out

May 9

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 8

Frost-free days

184

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Mt Airy 2 W · 20.4 km away · station 329 m, town 352 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Pilot Mountain plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 9 – May 23	Jul 3
Sweet pepper	Feb 28 – Mar 14	May 9 – May 23	Jul 8
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 16 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 2
Peas	—	Mar 9 – Apr 6	May 3
Bush beans	—	May 2 – May 23	Jun 21
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 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 28
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 23
Winter squash	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jul 28
Sweet corn	—	May 2 – May 23	Jul 1
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 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for Pilot Mountain

Pilot Mountain'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
1894	Apr 14
1896	Apr 8
1897	Apr 21
1900	Apr 11
1904	Apr 22
1905	Apr 24
1906	May 11
1907	May 22
1908	Apr 13
1909	May 12
1910	May 15
1911	Apr 26
1912	Apr 23
1913	Apr 22
1914	Apr 11
1915	Apr 17
1916	Apr 29
1917	May 13
1918	Apr 15
1919	Apr 27
1920	May 16
1921	Apr 20
1922	Apr 30
1924	May 2
1925	May 27
1926	May 5
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 26
1929	Apr 24
1930	Apr 27
1931	Apr 13
1932	Apr 29
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Mar 30
1936	Apr 20
1937	Apr 13
1938	Apr 24
1939	May 4
1940	Apr 28
1941	May 4
1942	Apr 13
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 30
1945	Apr 8
1946	Apr 18
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 20
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 18
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 22
1954	May 6
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 22
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 14
1959	Apr 24
1960	May 13
1961	Apr 30
1962	Apr 22
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 3
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	Apr 26
1969	Apr 25
1970	Apr 8
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 18
1974	Apr 11
1975	Apr 13
1976	Apr 27
1977	May 11
1978	Mar 31
1979	Apr 6
1980	Apr 17
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 30
1983	May 10
1984	Apr 25
1985	May 4
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 10
1988	Apr 20
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 2
1992	Apr 6
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 24
1995	Apr 27
1996	May 2
1997	May 12
1998	Apr 15
1999	Apr 1
2000	Apr 11
2001	Apr 28
2002	May 23
2003	Apr 2
2004	Apr 8
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 12
2007	May 8
2008	May 1
2011	Apr 7
2012	Apr 14
2013	Apr 7
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 29
2016	Apr 17
2017	Apr 10
2018	Apr 22
2019	Apr 4
2020	May 13
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 21
2023	Apr 25
2024	Apr 8
2025	Apr 14
2026	May 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	180
1896	182
1900	189
1904	175
1905	171
1906	152
1907	139
1908	172
1909	153
1910	166
1911	181
1912	187
1914	199
1915	175
1916	155
1917	146
1918	159
1919	192
1921	171
1924	152
1925	136
1926	155
1927	171
1928	181
1929	171
1930	174
1931	188
1932	182
1933	170
1934	168
1935	188
1936	190
1937	184
1938	180
1939	163
1940	174
1941	160
1942	168
1943	155
1944	168
1945	184
1946	166
1947	142
1948	179
1949	195
1950	197
1951	176
1952	176
1953	168
1954	163
1955	190
1956	172
1957	180
1958	175
1959	192
1960	160
1961	179
1962	184
1963	166
1964	174
1965	185
1966	162
1967	173
1968	161
1969	175
1970	179
1971	184
1972	166
1973	152
1974	174
1975	200
1976	173
1977	159
1978	190
1979	190
1980	172
1981	169
1982	169
1983	135
1984	195
1985	186
1986	167
1987	181
1988	169
1989	165
1990	190
1991	188
1992	195
1993	155
1994	170
1995	172
1996	162
1997	163
1998	190
1999	203
2000	201
2001	162
2002	147
2003	183
2004	191
2005	175
2006	184
2007	173
2011	198
2012	190
2013	197
2014	195
2015	172
2016	202
2017	203
2018	182
2019	203
2020	158
2021	194
2022	181
2023	182
2024	191
2025	193

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	19.9 °C
1894	20.3 °C
1896	21.2 °C
1900	20.7 °C
1904	19.6 °C
1905	20.7 °C
1906	20.9 °C
1907	19.1 °C
1908	20.3 °C
1909	17.9 °C
1910	19.8 °C
1911	21.4 °C
1912	20.8 °C
1913	20.5 °C
1914	20.9 °C
1915	20.8 °C
1916	19.8 °C
1917	19.8 °C
1918	19.3 °C
1919	20.1 °C
1920	19.4 °C
1924	19.4 °C
1925	20.3 °C
1926	20.2 °C
1927	19.9 °C
1928	20.1 °C
1929	20.4 °C
1930	21.1 °C
1931	20.5 °C
1932	20.0 °C
1933	21.3 °C
1934	21.1 °C
1935	19.7 °C
1936	21.8 °C
1937	20.4 °C
1938	20.8 °C
1939	21.2 °C
1940	20.0 °C
1941	21.1 °C
1942	21.5 °C
1943	20.9 °C
1944	21.2 °C
1945	21.2 °C
1946	20.4 °C
1947	20.7 °C
1948	20.8 °C
1949	20.5 °C
1950	20.4 °C
1951	20.3 °C
1952	21.3 °C
1953	21.3 °C
1954	21.1 °C
1955	21.2 °C
1956	20.2 °C
1957	21.1 °C
1958	20.6 °C
1959	21.1 °C
1960	20.6 °C
1961	19.5 °C
1962	20.1 °C
1963	20.2 °C
1964	20.4 °C
1965	20.6 °C
1966	19.9 °C
1967	19.5 °C
1968	20.3 °C
1969	20.8 °C
1970	21.3 °C
1971	20.1 °C
1972	19.7 °C
1973	20.3 °C
1974	20.1 °C
1975	20.7 °C
1976	19.9 °C
1977	21.6 °C
1978	21.0 °C
1979	20.2 °C
1980	21.3 °C
1981	21.0 °C
1982	20.5 °C
1983	20.4 °C
1984	19.7 °C
1985	20.9 °C
1986	21.6 °C
1987	21.5 °C
1988	20.9 °C
1989	20.4 °C
1990	20.8 °C
1991	21.5 °C
1992	19.8 °C
1993	20.7 °C
1994	19.3 °C
1995	19.7 °C
1996	19.3 °C
1997	18.3 °C
1998	20.3 °C
1999	19.6 °C
2000	19.5 °C
2001	19.4 °C
2002	20.0 °C
2003	19.1 °C
2004	19.7 °C
2005	19.6 °C
2006	19.6 °C
2007	20.2 °C
2011	20.9 °C
2012	20.4 °C
2013	19.6 °C
2014	19.7 °C
2015	20.7 °C
2016	20.7 °C
2017	20.0 °C
2018	20.8 °C
2019	20.8 °C
2020	19.2 °C
2021	19.8 °C
2022	20.3 °C
2023	19.6 °C
2024	20.8 °C
2025	20.5 °C
2026	21.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, Pilot Mountain's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Mt Airy 2 W (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

King White Plains Flat Rock (near Mount Airy)Mount Airy Tobaccoville Toast