When to plant in Rockwell, NC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 18

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 4

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 29

1 year in 10 by Oct 18

Frost-free days

207

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Salisbury · 16.2 km away · station 213 m, town 239 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Rockwell plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 12
Sweet pepper	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 17
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 31 – Feb 7	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 16
Peas	—	Feb 21 – Mar 21	Apr 17
Bush beans	—	Apr 11 – May 2	May 31
Carrot	—	Mar 14 – Apr 25	May 13
Beet	—	Mar 7 – Apr 18	Apr 26
Potato	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 23
Kale	Jan 24 – Feb 7	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 19
Broccoli	Jan 24 – Feb 7	Mar 7 – Mar 28	May 6
Cucumber	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 7
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 2
Winter squash	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jul 7
Sweet corn	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 10
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 7 – Mar 28	Jun 5
Garlic	—	Oct 15 – Nov 12 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 21 – Mar 21	Mar 31
Basil	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 14

Plan all 65 crops for Rockwell

Rockwell'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	Mar 30
1894	Mar 30
1895	Mar 23
1896	Apr 8
1897	Mar 30
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 5
1900	Apr 4
1901	Mar 22
1902	Apr 3
1903	Apr 18
1904	Apr 18
1906	May 10
1909	Apr 11
1910	Mar 16
1911	Apr 24
1912	Apr 9
1913	Mar 29
1914	Mar 24
1915	Apr 4
1916	Apr 10
1917	Mar 29
1918	Apr 14
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 6
1921	Apr 12
1922	Mar 23
1923	Apr 9
1924	Apr 3
1925	Mar 16
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 23
1928	Apr 16
1929	Mar 18
1930	Apr 25
1931	Mar 30
1932	Apr 16
1933	Mar 22
1934	Apr 13
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 19
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 11
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 14
1941	Mar 31
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 7
1945	Apr 7
1946	Mar 12
1947	Mar 31
1948	Mar 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 17
1951	Mar 27
1952	Apr 8
1953	Apr 20
1954	Mar 22
1955	Apr 1
1956	Apr 21
1957	Mar 29
1958	Apr 8
1959	Mar 29
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 11
1962	Apr 21
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 3
1966	Mar 29
1967	Mar 23
1968	Mar 26
1969	Apr 1
1970	Apr 8
1971	Apr 3
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 10
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 9
1977	Apr 7
1978	Apr 22
1979	Apr 7
1980	Apr 10
1981	Apr 7
1982	Apr 24
1983	Apr 21
1984	Apr 11
1985	Apr 10
1987	Apr 4
1988	Mar 27
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 13
1991	Mar 12
1992	Apr 6
1993	Mar 20
1994	Apr 8
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 10
1998	Mar 23
1999	Mar 28
2000	Mar 18
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 31
2004	Mar 24
2005	Mar 19
2007	May 20
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 8
2010	Mar 27
2011	Apr 6
2012	Mar 11
2013	Mar 29
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 23
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 3
2020	Apr 11
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 10
2023	Apr 11
2024	Apr 7
2025	Apr 13
2026	Apr 9

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	213
1895	200
1896	184
1897	232
1899	211
1900	218
1901	197
1903	191
1906	154
1910	226
1911	193
1912	207
1913	215
1914	217
1915	225
1916	208
1917	206
1918	201
1919	193
1920	205
1921	179
1922	231
1923	205
1924	201
1925	208
1926	188
1927	197
1928	206
1929	232
1930	175
1931	201
1932	209
1933	217
1934	198
1935	172
1936	194
1937	180
1938	217
1939	184
1940	206
1941	207
1942	197
1943	184
1944	191
1945	211
1946	245
1947	226
1948	203
1949	200
1950	202
1951	221
1952	195
1953	200
1954	222
1955	213
1957	211
1958	205
1959	223
1960	206
1961	198
1962	187
1963	183
1964	183
1965	204
1966	218
1967	219
1968	214
1969	205
1970	192
1971	215
1972	193
1973	205
1974	175
1975	200
1976	162
1977	193
1978	178
1979	189
1980	179
1981	178
1983	190
1987	187
1988	198
1989	191
1990	196
1992	196
1993	222
1994	202
1996	206
1997	195
1998	213
1999	210
2000	204
2001	181
2002	208
2003	223
2004	229
2005	221
2007	162
2009	193
2010	224
2011	206
2012	240
2013	210
2014	199
2015	195
2016	214
2017	231
2018	194
2019	212
2020	204
2021	196
2022	191
2023	204
2024	228
2025	211

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	23.1 °C
1894	23.0 °C
1895	23.4 °C
1896	23.5 °C
1897	22.4 °C
1898	22.5 °C
1899	22.9 °C
1900	23.6 °C
1901	21.4 °C
1903	22.2 °C
1904	21.5 °C
1906	22.5 °C
1909	21.7 °C
1910	22.2 °C
1911	23.2 °C
1912	22.6 °C
1913	22.0 °C
1914	22.6 °C
1915	22.3 °C
1916	22.3 °C
1917	21.8 °C
1918	21.7 °C
1919	22.0 °C
1920	21.3 °C
1921	22.7 °C
1922	22.5 °C
1923	21.9 °C
1924	21.3 °C
1925	23.2 °C
1926	22.6 °C
1927	21.5 °C
1928	21.5 °C
1929	21.9 °C
1930	22.4 °C
1931	22.3 °C
1932	22.3 °C
1933	23.1 °C
1934	22.8 °C
1935	21.9 °C
1936	22.4 °C
1937	22.2 °C
1938	22.8 °C
1939	23.0 °C
1940	22.0 °C
1941	23.6 °C
1942	23.2 °C
1943	22.8 °C
1944	22.7 °C
1945	22.9 °C
1946	22.1 °C
1947	22.9 °C
1948	22.9 °C
1949	22.6 °C
1950	22.1 °C
1951	22.4 °C
1952	22.1 °C
1953	22.7 °C
1954	22.6 °C
1955	22.6 °C
1956	21.8 °C
1957	23.3 °C
1958	22.9 °C
1959	22.7 °C
1960	22.5 °C
1961	21.5 °C
1962	22.0 °C
1963	21.3 °C
1964	22.1 °C
1965	22.2 °C
1966	21.8 °C
1967	21.3 °C
1968	21.6 °C
1969	21.9 °C
1970	22.7 °C
1971	21.5 °C
1972	21.2 °C
1973	21.6 °C
1974	21.0 °C
1975	21.6 °C
1976	20.9 °C
1977	23.2 °C
1978	22.3 °C
1979	21.5 °C
1980	22.5 °C
1981	22.3 °C
1982	21.2 °C
1983	22.3 °C
1985	21.5 °C
1988	21.3 °C
1989	21.7 °C
1990	22.4 °C
1992	21.2 °C
1993	22.9 °C
1994	21.9 °C
1996	22.1 °C
1997	20.9 °C
1998	23.2 °C
1999	22.3 °C
2000	21.8 °C
2001	21.9 °C
2002	23.0 °C
2003	21.7 °C
2004	22.4 °C
2005	22.2 °C
2006	22.4 °C
2007	22.6 °C
2008	22.0 °C
2009	22.1 °C
2010	23.6 °C
2011	23.0 °C
2012	22.2 °C
2013	21.1 °C
2014	21.7 °C
2015	22.7 °C
2016	22.7 °C
2017	22.0 °C
2018	22.9 °C
2019	22.8 °C
2020	21.2 °C
2021	21.6 °C
2022	22.3 °C
2023	21.4 °C
2024	22.5 °C
2025	22.4 °C
2026	23.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Rockwell's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Granite Quarry Salisbury East Spencer Spencer China Grove Mount Pleasant