When to plant in Silver Lake, NC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 3

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 17

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 18

1 year in 10 by Nov 4

Frost-free days

244

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Wilmington Intl Ap · 13.2 km away · station 7 m, town 10 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	Feb 6 – Feb 20	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 28
Sweet pepper	Jan 23 – Feb 6	Apr 3 – Apr 17	Jun 2
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 13 – Jan 20	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 29
Peas	—	Feb 3 – Mar 3	Mar 30
Bush beans	—	Mar 27 – Apr 17	May 16
Carrot	—	Feb 24 – Apr 7	Apr 25
Beet	—	Feb 17 – Mar 31	Apr 8
Potato	—	Feb 24 – Mar 17	May 5
Kale	Jan 6 – Jan 20	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Apr 1
Broccoli	Jan 6 – Jan 20	Feb 17 – Mar 10	Apr 18
Cucumber	Mar 6 – Mar 13	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 23
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 6 – Mar 13	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 18
Winter squash	Mar 6 – Mar 13	Apr 3 – Apr 17	Jun 22
Sweet corn	—	Mar 27 – Apr 17	May 26
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 17 – Mar 10	May 18
Garlic	—	Nov 4 – Dec 2 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 3 – Mar 3	Mar 13
Basil	Feb 20 – Mar 6	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 30

Plan all 65 crops for Silver Lake

Silver Lake'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
1948	Mar 14
1949	Mar 20
1950	Apr 15
1951	Mar 17
1952	Mar 16
1953	Mar 10
1954	Mar 22
1955	Mar 30
1956	Mar 25
1957	Mar 10
1958	Mar 23
1959	Feb 22
1960	Mar 24
1961	Mar 11
1962	Mar 19
1963	Mar 23
1964	Mar 31
1965	Mar 22
1966	Mar 10
1967	Mar 19
1968	Mar 25
1969	Mar 14
1970	Mar 17
1971	Mar 27
1972	Apr 10
1973	Mar 1
1974	Mar 15
1975	Mar 10
1976	Feb 24
1977	Mar 1
1978	Mar 18
1979	Mar 17
1980	Mar 15
1981	Mar 21
1982	Apr 7
1983	Apr 21
1984	Mar 10
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 23
1987	Apr 1
1988	Mar 18
1989	Apr 12
1990	Feb 27
1991	Mar 10
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 20
1994	Mar 17
1995	Mar 11
1996	Mar 24
1997	Mar 17
1998	Mar 14
1999	Mar 16
2000	Feb 8
2001	Apr 19
2002	Mar 23
2003	Feb 19
2004	Apr 6
2005	Mar 9
2006	Mar 27
2007	Apr 10
2008	Mar 1
2009	Mar 5
2010	Mar 7
2011	Mar 29
2012	Mar 6
2013	Mar 29
2014	Mar 27
2015	Mar 30
2016	Feb 27
2017	Mar 20
2018	Mar 24
2019	Mar 7
2020	Mar 8
2021	Apr 3
2022	Mar 14
2023	Mar 21
2024	Feb 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1948	271
1949	242
1950	219
1951	236
1952	227
1953	242
1954	225
1955	219
1956	229
1957	245
1958	251
1959	268
1960	227
1961	242
1962	220
1963	225
1964	236
1965	252
1966	265
1967	231
1968	233
1969	245
1970	251
1971	225
1972	226
1973	253
1974	220
1975	282
1976	246
1977	255
1978	266
1979	242
1980	241
1981	231
1982	212
1983	206
1984	271
1985	247
1986	235
1987	224
1988	251
1989	224
1990	264
1991	260
1992	227
1993	226
1994	269
1995	242
1996	224
1997	244
1998	238
1999	259
2000	280
2001	192
2002	249
2003	283
2004	222
2005	254
2006	221
2007	211
2008	243
2009	281
2010	265
2011	227
2012	263
2013	228
2014	232
2015	237
2016	266
2017	244
2018	243
2019	250
2020	268
2021	233
2022	248
2023	252
2024	280

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1948	23.4 °C
1949	23.3 °C
1950	22.9 °C
1951	23.6 °C
1952	24.2 °C
1953	23.6 °C
1954	23.6 °C
1955	23.6 °C
1956	23.1 °C
1957	23.5 °C
1958	23.2 °C
1959	23.6 °C
1960	23.5 °C
1961	22.8 °C
1962	23.0 °C
1963	22.5 °C
1964	23.3 °C
1965	23.7 °C
1966	23.3 °C
1967	23.6 °C
1968	23.6 °C
1969	22.9 °C
1970	23.7 °C
1971	23.1 °C
1972	22.5 °C
1973	23.3 °C
1974	23.3 °C
1975	24.3 °C
1976	23.2 °C
1977	24.4 °C
1978	23.9 °C
1979	23.6 °C
1980	24.3 °C
1981	22.9 °C
1982	22.4 °C
1983	22.9 °C
1984	22.6 °C
1985	24.1 °C
1986	24.4 °C
1987	23.8 °C
1988	23.0 °C
1989	23.4 °C
1990	23.9 °C
1991	24.6 °C
1992	22.9 °C
1993	24.0 °C
1994	23.5 °C
1995	23.5 °C
1996	23.4 °C
1997	22.1 °C
1998	24.3 °C
1999	24.2 °C
2000	23.0 °C
2001	23.2 °C
2002	23.9 °C
2003	23.3 °C
2004	23.8 °C
2005	23.5 °C
2006	23.3 °C
2007	23.4 °C
2008	23.7 °C
2009	23.6 °C
2010	24.8 °C
2011	24.6 °C
2012	23.9 °C
2013	23.0 °C
2014	24.2 °C
2015	24.3 °C
2016	24.4 °C
2017	24.5 °C
2018	24.5 °C
2019	25.1 °C
2020	23.8 °C
2021	24.1 °C
2022	24.7 °C
2023	24.2 °C
2024	24.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1948, Silver Lake'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 Wilmington Intl Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Myrtle Grove Masonboro Seagate Sea Breeze Wilmington Belville