When to plant in Welcome, NC

Planting dates worked out from Welcome'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 9

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 25

1 year in 10 by Oct 14

Frost-free days

196

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lexington · 6.4 km away · station 232 m, town 264 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Welcome 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)	Feb 5 – Feb 12	Mar 12 – Mar 26	Apr 21
Peas	—	Feb 26 – Mar 26	Apr 22
Bush beans	—	Apr 11 – May 2	May 31
Carrot	—	Mar 19 – Apr 30	May 18
Beet	—	Mar 12 – Apr 23	May 1
Potato	—	Mar 19 – Apr 9	May 28
Kale	Jan 29 – Feb 12	Mar 12 – Mar 26	Apr 24
Broccoli	Jan 29 – Feb 12	Mar 12 – Apr 2	May 11
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 12 – Apr 2	Jun 10
Garlic	—	Oct 11 – Nov 8 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 26 – Mar 26	Apr 5
Basil	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 14

Plan all 65 crops for Welcome

Welcome'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
1905	Apr 24
1906	May 10
1907	Apr 22
1908	Apr 5
1909	Apr 11
1910	Apr 26
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 14
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 7
1946	Mar 12
1947	Mar 29
1948	Mar 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 16
1951	Mar 27
1952	Mar 17
1953	Mar 27
1954	Mar 22
1955	Mar 30
1956	Apr 21
1957	Mar 21
1958	Mar 23
1959	Mar 29
1960	Apr 11
1961	Mar 19
1962	Apr 16
1963	Mar 23
1964	Apr 1
1965	Apr 3
1966	Mar 29
1967	Mar 24
1968	Mar 24
1969	Mar 31
1970	Mar 17
1971	Mar 31
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 11
1974	Apr 10
1975	Mar 15
1976	Mar 18
1977	Mar 8
1978	Apr 22
1979	Apr 7
1980	Apr 17
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 25
1983	Apr 22
1984	Apr 2
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 7
1988	Apr 20
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 19
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 6
1993	Apr 4
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 3
1996	Apr 11
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 7
1999	Apr 18
2000	Apr 6
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 1
2004	Apr 15
2005	Mar 19
2006	Mar 27
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 8
2010	Mar 27
2011	Apr 6
2012	Apr 24
2013	Mar 29
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 11
2017	Apr 9
2018	Apr 17
2019	Apr 4
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 20
2023	Apr 10
2024	Apr 6

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1905	170
1906	154
1907	175
1908	208
1909	184
1939	185
1940	207
1941	223
1942	197
1943	184
1944	214
1945	211
1946	245
1947	228
1948	203
1949	202
1950	203
1951	221
1952	217
1953	224
1954	223
1955	219
1956	211
1957	220
1958	229
1959	223
1960	210
1961	234
1962	191
1963	224
1964	234
1965	209
1966	218
1967	225
1968	216
1969	206
1970	243
1971	221
1972	193
1973	209
1974	175
1975	230
1976	223
1978	168
1979	189
1981	152
1982	174
1983	188
1984	218
1985	211
1986	168
1987	184
1988	175
1989	180
1990	190
1991	212
1992	196
1993	202
1994	191
1995	196
1996	182
1997	192
1998	198
1999	188
2000	185
2001	172
2002	208
2003	222
2004	204
2005	221
2006	201
2008	186
2009	193
2011	206
2012	191
2013	208
2014	198
2015	194
2017	203
2018	187
2019	211
2020	175
2021	194
2022	173
2023	180
2024	228

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1905	22.0 °C
1906	22.4 °C
1907	21.1 °C
1908	21.6 °C
1909	20.9 °C
1939	22.9 °C
1940	21.7 °C
1941	23.5 °C
1942	23.1 °C
1943	22.7 °C
1944	22.9 °C
1945	23.0 °C
1946	22.1 °C
1947	22.7 °C
1948	23.0 °C
1949	22.7 °C
1950	22.2 °C
1951	22.9 °C
1952	23.4 °C
1953	23.6 °C
1954	23.4 °C
1955	23.3 °C
1956	22.6 °C
1957	23.5 °C
1958	23.1 °C
1959	23.5 °C
1960	22.9 °C
1961	22.1 °C
1962	23.1 °C
1963	22.4 °C
1964	22.8 °C
1965	23.2 °C
1966	22.2 °C
1967	21.9 °C
1968	22.4 °C
1969	22.7 °C
1970	23.3 °C
1971	22.3 °C
1972	22.2 °C
1973	22.9 °C
1974	22.2 °C
1975	22.9 °C
1976	22.3 °C
1978	21.4 °C
1979	20.6 °C
1980	21.9 °C
1981	21.1 °C
1982	20.8 °C
1983	21.3 °C
1984	20.4 °C
1985	21.4 °C
1986	22.3 °C
1987	22.2 °C
1988	21.4 °C
1989	21.2 °C
1990	22.0 °C
1991	22.4 °C
1992	20.5 °C
1993	22.1 °C
1994	21.2 °C
1995	21.7 °C
1996	21.3 °C
1997	20.4 °C
1998	22.6 °C
1999	22.0 °C
2000	21.6 °C
2001	21.6 °C
2002	22.6 °C
2003	21.3 °C
2004	22.0 °C
2005	22.2 °C
2006	22.0 °C
2008	21.7 °C
2009	21.5 °C
2011	22.6 °C
2012	22.1 °C
2013	21.1 °C
2014	21.5 °C
2015	22.6 °C
2016	22.9 °C
2017	22.1 °C
2018	22.9 °C
2019	22.7 °C
2020	21.2 °C
2021	21.7 °C
2022	22.0 °C
2023	21.0 °C
2024	21.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1905, Welcome'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 Lexington (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Midway Lexington Advance Tyro Thomasville Wallburg