When to plant in Lake Hiawatha, NJ

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

Safe to plant out

May 3

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 17

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 21

1 year in 10 by Oct 11

Frost-free days

188

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Boonton 1 Se · 1.6 km away · station 85 m, town 77 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Lake Hiawatha plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 8 – Mar 22	May 3 – May 17	Jun 27
Sweet pepper	Feb 22 – Mar 8	May 3 – May 17	Jul 2
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 21 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 7
Peas	—	Mar 28 – Apr 25	May 22
Bush beans	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 15
Carrot	—	Apr 6 – May 18	Jun 5
Beet	—	Apr 6 – May 18	May 26
Potato	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 15
Kale	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 17
Broccoli	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 18	May 27
Cucumber	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jun 22
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jun 17
Winter squash	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jul 22
Sweet corn	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 28 – Apr 18	Jun 26
Garlic	—	Oct 7 – Nov 4 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 28 – Apr 25	May 5
Basil	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 3 – May 17	Jun 29

Plan all 65 crops for Lake Hiawatha

Lake Hiawatha'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 12
1895	May 17
1896	Apr 11
1897	Apr 21
1898	Apr 9
1900	May 11
1915	Apr 22
1916	Apr 11
1917	May 24
1918	Jun 21
1919	Apr 28
1920	May 2
1921	Apr 17
1922	May 1
1923	May 24
1924	May 5
1925	May 9
1926	May 13
1927	Apr 26
1928	May 10
1929	May 10
1930	Jun 1
1931	May 4
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 28
1934	Apr 30
1936	May 15
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 14
1939	May 15
1940	Apr 29
1941	May 13
1942	Apr 15
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 19
1945	Apr 23
1946	May 9
1947	May 10
1948	May 6
1949	Apr 29
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 6
1952	Apr 12
1953	Apr 6
1954	Apr 13
1955	Apr 9
1956	May 25
1957	Apr 16
1958	May 10
1959	Apr 24
1960	Apr 20
1961	May 1
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 25
1966	May 11
1967	May 17
1968	Apr 8
1969	Apr 21
1970	Apr 16
1971	Apr 17
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 19
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 5
1977	Apr 10
1978	Apr 9
1979	Apr 11
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 22
1982	Apr 23
1983	Apr 22
1984	Apr 22
1985	May 9
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 2
1988	Apr 26
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 4
1992	Apr 30
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 23
1995	Apr 17
2001	Apr 20
2006	Apr 8
2007	Apr 17
2008	May 2
2009	Apr 17
2010	Mar 29
2011	Mar 31
2012	Apr 6
2013	Apr 8
2015	Apr 27
2016	Apr 11
2017	May 8
2018	Apr 12
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 5
2022	Apr 19
2023	Apr 11
2024	Apr 26
2025	Apr 11
2026	Apr 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1895	144
1896	180
1897	171
1898	201
1915	171
1917	109
1918	109
1919	162
1920	174
1921	174
1922	147
1923	115
1924	161
1925	139
1926	147
1927	167
1928	139
1929	147
1930	139
1931	161
1932	150
1933	169
1934	166
1936	150
1937	166
1938	143
1939	153
1940	150
1941	139
1942	166
1943	156
1944	167
1945	163
1946	165
1947	139
1948	162
1949	180
1950	166
1951	176
1952	182
1953	170
1954	177
1955	196
1956	138
1957	163
1958	148
1959	178
1960	183
1961	168
1962	187
1963	122
1964	178
1965	163
1966	145
1967	155
1968	180
1969	177
1970	184
1971	201
1972	166
1973	155
1974	163
1975	191
1976	159
1977	196
1978	182
1979	198
1980	189
1981	171
1982	170
1983	181
1984	166
1985	151
1986	159
1987	193
1988	165
1989	156
1990	184
1991	191
1992	170
1994	171
1995	182
2001	171
2006	188
2007	201
2008	170
2009	184
2010	217
2011	210
2012	189
2013	199
2015	166
2016	197
2017	184
2018	189
2019	199
2020	161
2021	212
2022	182
2023	204
2024	191
2025	209

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1895	18.9 °C
1896	18.8 °C
1897	17.8 °C
1898	18.6 °C
1899	17.6 °C
1915	17.8 °C
1917	16.9 °C
1918	17.2 °C
1919	17.4 °C
1921	18.6 °C
1922	17.6 °C
1923	16.9 °C
1924	16.1 °C
1925	17.1 °C
1926	16.0 °C
1927	15.7 °C
1928	16.8 °C
1929	17.1 °C
1930	17.7 °C
1931	18.5 °C
1932	17.9 °C
1933	18.2 °C
1934	17.8 °C
1936	17.9 °C
1937	17.9 °C
1938	17.7 °C
1939	17.9 °C
1940	16.5 °C
1941	18.0 °C
1942	18.0 °C
1943	17.5 °C
1944	18.5 °C
1945	17.6 °C
1946	16.8 °C
1947	17.2 °C
1948	17.4 °C
1949	18.4 °C
1950	16.4 °C
1951	17.6 °C
1952	18.1 °C
1953	18.1 °C
1954	17.2 °C
1955	18.8 °C
1956	16.4 °C
1957	17.9 °C
1958	17.1 °C
1959	18.8 °C
1960	17.9 °C
1961	17.9 °C
1962	17.2 °C
1963	16.8 °C
1964	17.0 °C
1965	17.1 °C
1966	16.9 °C
1967	16.7 °C
1968	17.6 °C
1969	17.9 °C
1970	18.1 °C
1971	17.6 °C
1972	17.4 °C
1973	17.7 °C
1974	17.5 °C
1975	17.7 °C
1976	17.9 °C
1977	18.3 °C
1978	17.4 °C
1979	18.0 °C
1980	19.1 °C
1981	18.3 °C
1982	17.3 °C
1983	18.4 °C
1984	17.7 °C
1985	17.9 °C
1986	17.8 °C
1987	18.3 °C
1988	18.5 °C
1989	17.8 °C
1990	17.2 °C
1991	19.4 °C
1992	17.1 °C
1993	18.6 °C
1994	18.3 °C
1995	17.4 °C
2001	18.6 °C
2006	18.9 °C
2007	18.6 °C
2008	18.8 °C
2009	18.5 °C
2010	20.4 °C
2011	19.8 °C
2012	19.7 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.7 °C
2015	19.5 °C
2016	19.1 °C
2017	18.5 °C
2018	19.1 °C
2019	19.1 °C
2020	18.7 °C
2021	19.0 °C
2022	19.2 °C
2023	18.5 °C
2024	19.3 °C
2025	19.0 °C
2026	18.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, Lake Hiawatha's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 4 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Boonton 1 Se (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Boonton Mountain Lakes Parsippany Fairfield East Hanover Whippany