When to plant in Morton, PA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 30

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 12

1 year in 10 by Nov 4

Frost-free days

224

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Phila Intl Ap · 9.2 km away · station 2 m, town 41 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Morton plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Apr 12 – Apr 26	Jun 6
Sweet pepper	Feb 1 – Feb 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	Jun 11
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 6 – Feb 13	Mar 13 – Mar 27	Apr 22
Peas	—	Mar 13 – Apr 10	May 7
Bush beans	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	May 27
Carrot	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 22
Beet	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 12
Potato	—	Mar 23 – Apr 13	Jun 1
Kale	Feb 6 – Feb 20	Mar 20 – Apr 3	May 2
Broccoli	Jan 30 – Feb 13	Mar 13 – Apr 3	May 12
Cucumber	Mar 15 – Mar 22	Apr 12 – Apr 26	Jun 1
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 15 – Mar 22	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 27
Winter squash	Mar 15 – Mar 22	Apr 12 – Apr 26	Jul 1
Sweet corn	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 13 – Apr 3	Jun 11
Garlic	—	Oct 25 – Nov 22 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 13 – Apr 10	Apr 20
Basil	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	Jun 8

Plan all 65 crops for Morton

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

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1941	211
1942	195
1943	202
1944	192
1946	248
1947	222
1948	191
1949	229
1950	210
1951	220
1952	216
1953	239
1954	217
1955	224
1956	202
1957	195
1958	212
1959	213
1960	192
1961	183
1962	190
1963	201
1964	185
1965	183
1966	169
1967	206
1968	218
1969	204
1970	217
1971	219
1972	193
1973	207
1974	190
1975	199
1976	188
1977	215
1978	230
1979	221
1980	199
1981	186
1982	188
1983	192
1984	219
1985	201
1986	232
1987	223
1988	173
1989	215
1990	199
1991	236
1992	198
1993	232
1994	248
1995	213
1996	219
1997	216
1998	224
1999	235
2000	220
2001	228
2002	225
2003	221
2004	217
2005	240
2006	226
2007	212
2008	221
2009	226
2010	244
2011	215
2012	223
2013	221
2014	212
2015	251
2016	226
2017	230
2018	213
2019	219
2020	254
2021	227
2022	213
2023	236
2024	250

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1941	20.5 °C
1942	20.5 °C
1943	19.9 °C
1944	20.4 °C
1946	19.3 °C
1947	19.7 °C
1948	19.6 °C
1949	20.6 °C
1950	18.8 °C
1951	20.1 °C
1952	20.7 °C
1953	20.6 °C
1954	20.3 °C
1955	21.0 °C
1956	18.9 °C
1957	20.4 °C
1958	19.3 °C
1959	20.8 °C
1960	19.6 °C
1961	19.2 °C
1962	18.8 °C
1963	18.6 °C
1964	19.7 °C
1965	19.4 °C
1966	19.0 °C
1967	19.1 °C
1968	20.2 °C
1969	20.3 °C
1970	20.6 °C
1971	20.3 °C
1972	19.7 °C
1973	20.7 °C
1974	20.2 °C
1975	20.0 °C
1976	20.4 °C
1977	20.7 °C
1978	20.0 °C
1979	20.0 °C
1980	21.3 °C
1981	20.0 °C
1982	19.6 °C
1983	20.1 °C
1984	19.0 °C
1985	20.0 °C
1986	20.6 °C
1987	20.7 °C
1988	20.5 °C
1989	20.3 °C
1990	20.1 °C
1991	22.0 °C
1992	19.8 °C
1993	21.6 °C
1994	21.6 °C
1995	21.6 °C
1996	19.6 °C
1997	19.3 °C
1998	21.2 °C
1999	21.0 °C
2000	19.6 °C
2001	21.0 °C
2002	21.7 °C
2003	20.4 °C
2004	20.9 °C
2005	21.3 °C
2006	21.0 °C
2007	20.9 °C
2008	20.9 °C
2009	20.6 °C
2010	22.8 °C
2011	22.0 °C
2012	21.9 °C
2013	20.9 °C
2014	20.9 °C
2015	22.4 °C
2016	21.8 °C
2017	21.4 °C
2018	21.3 °C
2019	22.1 °C
2020	20.9 °C
2021	21.6 °C
2022	22.2 °C
2023	21.1 °C
2024	22.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1941, Morton's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Phila Intl Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Folsom Springfield Swarthmore Prospect Park Norwood Glenolden