When to plant in Defiance, OH

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

Safe to plant out

May 8

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 20

1 year in 10 by Oct 7

Frost-free days

184

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Defiance · 2.5 km away · station 213 m, town 206 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	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 8 – May 22	Jul 2
Sweet pepper	Feb 27 – Mar 13	May 8 – May 22	Jul 7
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 24 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 10
Peas	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 25
Bush beans	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 20
Carrot	—	Apr 8 – May 20	Jun 7
Beet	—	Apr 8 – May 20	May 28
Potato	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 17
Kale	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 20
Broccoli	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 21	May 30
Cucumber	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 27
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 22
Winter squash	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jul 27
Sweet corn	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 30
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 29
Garlic	—	Oct 6 – Nov 3 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 8
Basil	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 8 – May 22	Jul 4

Plan all 65 crops for Defiance

Defiance'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	Apr 23
1894	Apr 13
1895	May 22
1896	Apr 22
1897	May 31
1898	Apr 12
1899	Apr 16
1900	May 5
1901	May 18
1902	May 28
1903	May 4
1905	May 1
1906	May 10
1907	May 21
1908	May 3
1909	May 4
1910	May 15
1911	May 5
1932	May 2
1934	May 12
1935	Apr 18
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1939	May 1
1940	May 3
1941	May 12
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 4
1944	Apr 29
1945	May 11
1946	May 13
1947	May 10
1948	May 8
1949	Apr 29
1950	May 8
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 12
1953	Apr 22
1954	May 10
1955	May 9
1956	Apr 25
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 30
1959	May 16
1960	May 8
1961	May 27
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 29
1966	May 12
1967	May 4
1968	May 7
1969	May 12
1970	May 7
1971	May 5
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 19
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 9
1977	May 10
1978	May 3
1979	May 2
1980	Apr 26
1981	May 8
1982	Apr 30
1983	Apr 22
1984	Apr 12
1985	Apr 11
1986	Apr 24
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 26
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 12
1992	Apr 14
1993	Apr 23
1994	Apr 9
1995	Apr 11
1996	May 13
1997	Apr 20
1998	Apr 6
1999	Mar 29
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 20
2002	May 20
2003	Apr 24
2004	Apr 28
2005	May 5
2006	Apr 27
2007	Apr 16
2008	May 1
2009	Apr 13
2010	Apr 11
2011	Apr 4
2012	Apr 27
2013	Apr 26
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 15
2017	May 8
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 12
2021	May 1
2022	Apr 27
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 18

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	164
1895	129
1896	150
1897	112
1898	185
1899	163
1900	156
1901	125
1902	152
1903	136
1905	172
1906	153
1907	127
1908	151
1909	146
1910	165
1911	171
1932	164
1935	168
1936	183
1937	179
1939	152
1940	145
1941	168
1942	157
1943	153
1944	168
1945	144
1946	140
1947	135
1948	159
1949	177
1950	149
1951	158
1952	173
1953	167
1954	161
1955	168
1956	167
1957	165
1958	154
1959	124
1960	164
1961	124
1962	149
1963	159
1964	177
1965	157
1966	142
1967	168
1968	150
1969	155
1970	144
1971	182
1972	168
1973	152
1974	137
1975	163
1976	160
1977	155
1978	159
1979	163
1980	161
1981	147
1982	169
1983	187
1984	203
1985	222
1988	163
1989	148
1990	189
1991	186
1992	187
1993	169
1994	200
1995	164
1996	150
1997	184
1998	211
1999	209
2000	199
2001	170
2002	146
2003	161
2004	193
2005	176
2006	167
2007	195
2008	173
2009	186
2010	203
2011	201
2012	186
2013	178
2014	184
2015	176
2016	192
2017	170
2018	169
2019	199
2020	143
2021	175
2022	163
2023	186
2024	174
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1894	18.2 °C
1895	19.5 °C
1896	19.6 °C
1897	17.0 °C
1898	18.3 °C
1899	18.7 °C
1900	18.4 °C
1901	18.4 °C
1902	17.1 °C
1903	17.7 °C
1905	17.6 °C
1906	19.1 °C
1907	15.7 °C
1908	18.6 °C
1909	16.9 °C
1910	17.1 °C
1911	18.4 °C
1932	18.7 °C
1934	20.4 °C
1935	17.3 °C
1936	18.8 °C
1937	18.1 °C
1939	18.6 °C
1940	18.1 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	18.6 °C
1943	18.3 °C
1944	19.5 °C
1945	17.2 °C
1946	17.2 °C
1947	17.4 °C
1948	18.8 °C
1949	18.6 °C
1950	16.8 °C
1951	17.4 °C
1952	18.5 °C
1953	18.3 °C
1954	18.1 °C
1955	19.6 °C
1956	17.4 °C
1957	17.8 °C
1958	17.3 °C
1959	19.3 °C
1960	17.9 °C
1961	16.9 °C
1962	17.8 °C
1963	16.8 °C
1964	18.0 °C
1965	17.5 °C
1966	16.7 °C
1967	16.6 °C
1968	17.6 °C
1969	17.4 °C
1970	18.1 °C
1971	17.3 °C
1972	16.8 °C
1973	17.6 °C
1974	16.9 °C
1975	17.1 °C
1976	17.0 °C
1977	18.6 °C
1978	17.5 °C
1979	17.0 °C
1980	17.4 °C
1981	16.7 °C
1982	17.5 °C
1983	18.1 °C
1984	17.3 °C
1985	18.4 °C
1987	19.3 °C
1988	19.2 °C
1989	17.3 °C
1990	17.5 °C
1991	19.2 °C
1992	16.6 °C
1993	17.9 °C
1994	17.9 °C
1995	18.1 °C
1996	17.5 °C
1997	16.9 °C
1998	19.2 °C
1999	19.0 °C
2000	18.2 °C
2001	18.4 °C
2002	18.7 °C
2003	17.4 °C
2004	18.1 °C
2005	19.3 °C
2006	18.4 °C
2007	18.9 °C
2008	18.2 °C
2009	17.8 °C
2010	19.9 °C
2011	18.8 °C
2012	19.9 °C
2013	18.4 °C
2014	18.0 °C
2015	18.7 °C
2016	19.2 °C
2017	18.7 °C
2018	19.0 °C
2019	18.5 °C
2020	18.3 °C
2021	19.3 °C
2022	18.7 °C
2023	18.3 °C
2024	19.7 °C
2025	18.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Defiance's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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