When to plant in Cape May, NJ

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 17

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 6

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 9

1 year in 10 by Oct 31

Frost-free days

214

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Cape May 2 Nw · 3.3 km away · station 6 m, town 2 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 21 – Mar 7	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 12
Sweet pepper	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 17
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 23
Peas	—	Mar 14 – Apr 11	May 8
Bush beans	—	Apr 12 – May 3	Jun 1
Carrot	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 25
Beet	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 15
Potato	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	Jun 4
Kale	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 3
Broccoli	Jan 31 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 13
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 12 – May 3	Jun 11
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	Jun 12
Garlic	—	Oct 26 – Nov 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 14 – Apr 11	Apr 21
Basil	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 14

Plan all 65 crops for Cape May

Cape May'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
1878	Mar 26
1879	Apr 6
1880	Apr 12
1881	Apr 7
1883	Apr 1
1885	Apr 14
1894	Apr 7
1895	Apr 11
1896	Apr 11
1897	Apr 21
1898	Apr 6
1899	Apr 6
1900	Apr 11
1901	Mar 17
1902	Mar 20
1903	Apr 5
1904	Apr 20
1905	Apr 3
1906	Apr 3
1907	Apr 9
1908	Apr 17
1909	Apr 11
1910	Mar 18
1911	Apr 2
1912	Mar 26
1913	Mar 29
1914	Apr 6
1915	Apr 4
1916	Mar 24
1917	Apr 14
1918	Mar 28
1919	Apr 2
1920	Apr 9
1921	Apr 11
1922	Mar 23
1923	Apr 2
1924	Apr 1
1925	Apr 21
1926	Apr 20
1927	Apr 8
1928	Apr 18
1929	Mar 11
1930	Apr 10
1931	Mar 21
1932	Apr 4
1940	Apr 14
1942	Feb 27
1943	Apr 7
1944	Apr 6
1945	Mar 21
1947	Apr 1
1948	Apr 29
1950	Apr 14
1951	Mar 23
1952	Mar 27
1953	Mar 11
1954	Apr 5
1955	Mar 28
1956	Mar 27
1959	Mar 29
1960	Mar 27
1961	Mar 21
1962	Apr 4
1963	Mar 16
1964	Apr 5
1965	Apr 3
1966	Mar 29
1967	Mar 24
1968	Apr 11
1969	Apr 1
1970	Apr 2
1971	Apr 9
1972	Apr 10
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 8
1975	Apr 22
1976	Apr 12
1977	Apr 9
1978	Mar 20
1979	Apr 11
1980	Mar 28
1981	Apr 16
1982	Apr 8
1983	Apr 2
1984	Apr 10
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 25
1987	Apr 1
1988	Mar 22
1989	Apr 23
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 1
1992	Apr 3
1993	Apr 5
1994	Mar 21
1995	Apr 6
1996	Apr 15
1997	Apr 10
1998	Apr 13
1999	Mar 27
2000	Mar 18
2001	Apr 5
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 31
2005	Apr 17
2006	Mar 24
2007	Apr 12
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 17
2010	Mar 27
2011	Mar 30
2012	Mar 30
2013	Apr 4
2014	Apr 16
2015	Apr 25
2016	Apr 14
2017	Mar 23
2018	Apr 11
2019	Apr 2
2020	Apr 19
2021	Mar 21
2022	Mar 30
2023	Apr 10
2024	Mar 24
2025	Mar 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1878	223
1879	211
1880	220
1881	230
1883	225
1894	218
1895	223
1896	217
1897	215
1898	231
1899	220
1900	218
1901	238
1902	253
1903	215
1904	190
1905	221
1906	240
1907	204
1908	201
1909	232
1910	246
1911	224
1912	237
1913	216
1914	217
1915	227
1916	236
1917	199
1918	240
1919	231
1920	216
1921	236
1922	243
1923	213
1924	229
1925	192
1926	196
1927	215
1928	191
1929	254
1930	210
1931	230
1942	259
1943	223
1944	233
1945	244
1947	226
1952	206
1953	239
1954	241
1955	245
1956	228
1959	233
1960	225
1961	234
1962	216
1963	254
1964	230
1965	220
1966	229
1969	205
1970	229
1971	213
1972	192
1973	207
1974	196
1975	191
1976	189
1977	218
1978	250
1979	218
1980	219
1981	220
1982	192
1983	211
1984	218
1985	202
1986	232
1987	223
1988	200
1989	209
1990	193
1991	202
1992	218
1993	210
1994	235
1995	213
1996	211
1997	220
1998	205
1999	225
2000	242
2001	185
2002	225
2003	222
2005	208
2006	224
2007	210
2008	215
2009	203
2010	245
2011	214
2012	220
2013	213
2014	212
2015	212
2016	221
2017	231
2018	213
2019	219
2020	194
2021	243
2022	229
2023	205
2024	247
2025	256

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1878	19.4 °C
1879	18.5 °C
1880	19.8 °C
1881	18.7 °C
1882	18.5 °C
1883	18.7 °C
1894	19.0 °C
1895	19.2 °C
1896	19.4 °C
1897	18.0 °C
1898	18.1 °C
1899	17.8 °C
1900	19.3 °C
1901	18.0 °C
1902	17.8 °C
1903	18.0 °C
1904	17.8 °C
1905	18.1 °C
1906	19.1 °C
1907	16.8 °C
1908	18.3 °C
1909	18.0 °C
1910	18.7 °C
1911	19.0 °C
1912	18.5 °C
1913	19.0 °C
1914	18.4 °C
1915	18.7 °C
1916	18.4 °C
1917	17.7 °C
1918	18.3 °C
1919	18.8 °C
1920	18.0 °C
1921	19.5 °C
1922	19.2 °C
1923	18.8 °C
1924	18.2 °C
1925	19.5 °C
1926	19.1 °C
1927	17.7 °C
1928	18.2 °C
1929	18.5 °C
1930	19.4 °C
1931	19.3 °C
1942	19.7 °C
1943	18.5 °C
1944	19.3 °C
1945	19.1 °C
1947	19.6 °C
1948	19.7 °C
1950	18.2 °C
1951	20.0 °C
1953	19.8 °C
1954	19.5 °C
1955	20.4 °C
1956	18.6 °C
1958	19.0 °C
1959	20.3 °C
1960	20.3 °C
1961	19.6 °C
1962	19.6 °C
1963	19.4 °C
1964	19.6 °C
1965	19.8 °C
1966	19.2 °C
1969	19.2 °C
1970	19.1 °C
1971	18.8 °C
1972	17.9 °C
1973	19.5 °C
1974	19.1 °C
1975	18.8 °C
1976	19.1 °C
1977	19.9 °C
1978	18.9 °C
1979	18.9 °C
1980	20.1 °C
1981	19.5 °C
1982	18.5 °C
1983	19.3 °C
1984	19.0 °C
1985	19.8 °C
1986	19.7 °C
1987	19.9 °C
1988	18.9 °C
1989	19.7 °C
1990	19.4 °C
1991	20.7 °C
1992	18.4 °C
1993	20.0 °C
1994	19.4 °C
1995	20.0 °C
1996	19.3 °C
1997	18.9 °C
1998	20.5 °C
1999	20.5 °C
2000	19.4 °C
2001	19.9 °C
2002	20.8 °C
2003	19.3 °C
2005	20.2 °C
2006	20.3 °C
2007	20.0 °C
2008	20.0 °C
2009	19.8 °C
2010	21.5 °C
2011	21.3 °C
2012	21.0 °C
2013	19.7 °C
2014	19.6 °C
2015	20.8 °C
2016	20.6 °C
2017	20.7 °C
2018	20.9 °C
2019	21.1 °C
2020	20.2 °C
2021	20.8 °C
2022	20.5 °C
2023	20.4 °C
2024	20.6 °C
2025	20.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1878, Cape May'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 Cape May 2 Nw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

West Cape May Erma North Cape May Wildwood Crest Rio Grande Wildwood