When to plant in Birchwood Lakes, PA

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

Safe to plant out

May 23

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 12

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 8

1 year in 10 by Sep 23

Frost-free days

146

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Hawley 1 E · 32.1 km away · station 271 m, town 344 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Birchwood Lakes plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 23 – Jun 6	Jul 17
Sweet pepper	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 23 – Jun 6	Jul 22
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 10 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	May 24
Peas	—	Apr 8 – May 6	Jun 2
Bush beans	—	May 16 – Jun 6	Jul 5
Carrot	—	Apr 21 – Jun 2	Jun 20
Beet	—	Apr 18 – May 30	Jun 7
Potato	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 30
Kale	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 28
Broccoli	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 13
Cucumber	Apr 25 – May 2	May 23 – Jun 6	Jul 12
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 25 – May 2	May 23 – Jun 6	Jul 7
Winter squash	Apr 25 – May 2	May 23 – Jun 6	Aug 11
Sweet corn	—	May 16 – Jun 6	Jul 15
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jul 13
Garlic	—	Sep 24 – Oct 22 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 8 – May 6	May 16
Basil	Apr 11 – Apr 25	May 23 – Jun 6	Jul 19

Plan all 65 crops for Birchwood Lakes

Birchwood Lakes'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
1898	May 9
1899	Apr 28
1922	May 1
1923	May 24
1924	Jun 1
1925	May 27
1926	May 21
1927	May 29
1928	May 25
1929	Jun 3
1930	Apr 29
1931	May 18
1932	Jun 8
1933	May 8
1934	May 17
1935	May 25
1936	May 29
1937	May 16
1938	Jun 1
1939	May 16
1940	May 12
1941	May 26
1942	May 11
1943	May 15
1944	May 19
1945	May 25
1946	May 10
1947	May 11
1948	May 2
1949	May 30
1950	May 9
1951	May 14
1959	May 9
1960	May 10
1961	May 6
1962	May 12
1963	May 25
1964	May 4
1965	May 1
1966	May 12
1967	May 24
1968	May 9
1969	May 28
1970	May 8
1971	May 15
1972	May 12
1973	May 19
1974	May 9
1975	Apr 29
1976	May 14
1977	May 16
1978	May 5
1979	May 3
1980	May 10
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 30
1983	May 19
1984	May 18
1985	May 10
1986	Jun 3
1988	May 4
1989	May 9
1990	May 12
1991	May 5
1992	May 8
1993	May 23
1995	Apr 6
1996	May 25
1997	May 19
1998	Apr 30
1999	May 1
2000	May 16
2001	Jun 2
2002	May 23
2003	May 19
2004	May 5
2005	May 14
2007	May 15
2008	May 20
2009	May 19
2010	May 12
2011	May 6
2012	May 1
2013	May 15
2014	May 8
2015	May 15
2016	May 10
2017	May 5

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	160
1899	139
1922	147
1923	91
1924	114
1925	118
1926	139
1927	117
1928	122
1929	107
1930	153
1931	144
1932	102
1933	147
1934	137
1935	121
1936	119
1937	124
1938	116
1939	125
1940	104
1941	126
1942	136
1943	125
1944	128
1945	131
1946	145
1947	134
1948	154
1949	139
1950	148
1951	138
1959	130
1960	144
1961	151
1962	131
1963	120
1964	132
1965	149
1966	147
1967	142
1968	149
1969	140
1970	149
1971	156
1972	141
1973	152
1974	137
1975	156
1976	149
1977	154
1978	146
1979	160
1980	148
1981	152
1982	163
1983	128
1984	137
1985	154
1986	126
1988	147
1989	138
1990	128
1991	139
1992	138
1993	119
1996	131
1997	126
1998	146
1999	157
2000	133
2001	127
2002	144
2003	136
2004	153
2005	162
2007	166
2008	136
2009	144
2010	150
2011	174
2012	163
2013	158
2014	149
2015	155
2016	153

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1898	18.1 °C
1899	16.6 °C
1922	16.9 °C
1923	16.5 °C
1924	15.1 °C
1925	16.6 °C
1926	15.5 °C
1927	15.2 °C
1928	16.0 °C
1929	16.4 °C
1930	16.6 °C
1931	17.3 °C
1932	16.1 °C
1933	17.1 °C
1934	16.6 °C
1935	15.2 °C
1936	16.1 °C
1937	15.9 °C
1938	16.0 °C
1939	16.8 °C
1940	15.1 °C
1941	16.9 °C
1942	17.2 °C
1943	16.4 °C
1944	17.2 °C
1945	16.6 °C
1946	15.9 °C
1947	16.6 °C
1948	16.8 °C
1949	16.9 °C
1950	15.7 °C
1951	16.6 °C
1959	17.1 °C
1960	16.0 °C
1961	15.9 °C
1962	15.3 °C
1963	14.8 °C
1964	15.3 °C
1965	15.2 °C
1966	14.7 °C
1967	14.7 °C
1968	15.6 °C
1969	15.4 °C
1970	15.6 °C
1971	14.8 °C
1972	14.8 °C
1973	15.8 °C
1974	14.8 °C
1975	14.9 °C
1976	15.0 °C
1977	15.5 °C
1978	14.8 °C
1979	15.3 °C
1980	15.9 °C
1981	15.6 °C
1982	14.7 °C
1983	15.3 °C
1984	14.9 °C
1985	15.4 °C
1986	15.3 °C
1988	15.9 °C
1989	15.4 °C
1990	15.7 °C
1991	16.9 °C
1992	14.7 °C
1995	16.4 °C
1996	16.5 °C
1997	14.2 °C
1998	16.3 °C
1999	16.0 °C
2000	14.9 °C
2001	15.8 °C
2002	16.1 °C
2003	15.2 °C
2004	16.0 °C
2005	16.6 °C
2007	15.9 °C
2008	15.6 °C
2009	15.3 °C
2010	16.7 °C
2011	16.6 °C
2012	16.3 °C
2013	15.8 °C
2014	15.4 °C
2015	16.4 °C
2016	16.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1898, Birchwood Lakes's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. 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 Hawley 1 E (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Gold Key Lake Sunrise Lake Conashaugh Lakes Pocono Ranch Lands Hemlock Farms Pine Ridge