When to plant in Scotland, PA

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

Safe to plant out

May 9

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 24

1 year in 10 by Oct 6

Frost-free days

189

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Chambersburg 1 Ese · 6.2 km away · station 195 m, town 213 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Scotland plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 9 – May 23	Jul 3
Sweet pepper	Feb 28 – Mar 14	May 9 – May 23	Jul 8
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 17 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 3
Peas	—	Mar 20 – Apr 17	May 14
Bush beans	—	May 2 – May 23	Jun 21
Carrot	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 30
Beet	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 19
Potato	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 9
Kale	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 9
Broccoli	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 14	May 23
Cucumber	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 28
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 23
Winter squash	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jul 28
Sweet corn	—	May 2 – May 23	Jul 1
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 22
Garlic	—	Oct 10 – Nov 7 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 20 – Apr 17	Apr 27
Basil	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for Scotland

Scotland'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 16
1895	May 22
1896	Apr 10
1897	Apr 21
1900	May 6
1917	Apr 18
1921	Apr 20
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 11
1924	May 5
1925	May 8
1926	May 5
1927	May 1
1928	May 14
1929	May 17
1931	May 4
1932	Apr 17
1933	Apr 28
1934	Apr 29
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 25
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 30
1939	May 4
1940	May 12
1941	May 19
1942	Apr 23
1943	May 2
1945	May 2
1946	May 8
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 23
1949	Apr 29
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 25
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 9
1959	Apr 14
1960	May 2
1961	May 5
1962	May 10
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 11
1965	Apr 17
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1969	Apr 13
1970	May 7
1971	Apr 27
1972	May 11
1973	Apr 15
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 9
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 20
1980	Apr 18
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 23
1983	May 10
1984	May 17
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 26
1989	May 4
1990	May 12
1991	Apr 12
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 23
1995	Apr 6
1996	May 14
1997	May 8
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 30
2002	Apr 24
2003	Apr 8
2004	Apr 28
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 16
2010	Apr 14
2011	Apr 1
2012	Apr 13
2013	May 14
2014	Apr 25
2016	Apr 14
2017	Apr 10
2018	Apr 21
2020	May 10
2023	Apr 25
2024	Mar 26
2025	Apr 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	178
1895	133
1896	182
1900	163
1917	145
1921	175
1922	172
1923	147
1924	157
1925	154
1926	169
1927	166
1928	135
1929	144
1931	161
1932	179
1933	168
1935	171
1936	160
1938	160
1939	164
1940	159
1941	150
1942	158
1945	154
1946	130
1947	134
1948	178
1949	180
1950	187
1951	195
1952	176
1953	168
1954	180
1955	197
1956	118
1957	144
1958	175
1959	187
1960	171
1961	170
1962	133
1963	121
1964	177
1965	171
1967	173
1969	192
1970	162
1971	190
1972	151
1974	138
1975	191
1976	155
1977	184
1978	160
1979	192
1980	187
1981	163
1982	177
1983	172
1984	169
1985	198
1986	159
1987	182
1988	163
1989	143
1990	160
1991	168
1994	163
1995	202
1996	142
1997	165
1999	185
2001	160
2002	189
2003	198
2004	193
2005	191
2006	206
2007	196
2008	186
2009	185
2010	201
2011	210
2012	182
2013	164
2014	196
2016	194
2017	213
2020	159
2023	190
2024	204

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1894	18.7 °C
1896	18.8 °C
1897	17.6 °C
1898	18.9 °C
1900	19.9 °C
1917	18.1 °C
1921	19.6 °C
1922	19.2 °C
1923	18.4 °C
1924	17.2 °C
1925	19.1 °C
1926	18.2 °C
1927	17.2 °C
1928	17.4 °C
1929	18.5 °C
1931	20.4 °C
1933	19.9 °C
1935	18.8 °C
1936	20.0 °C
1938	19.5 °C
1939	20.0 °C
1940	18.4 °C
1941	20.2 °C
1942	20.1 °C
1945	18.7 °C
1947	18.4 °C
1948	18.7 °C
1949	18.9 °C
1950	17.7 °C
1951	18.6 °C
1952	18.9 °C
1953	19.0 °C
1954	18.7 °C
1955	19.5 °C
1956	17.6 °C
1957	19.1 °C
1958	18.1 °C
1959	19.7 °C
1960	18.6 °C
1961	18.2 °C
1962	18.0 °C
1963	17.6 °C
1964	18.5 °C
1965	18.5 °C
1967	17.5 °C
1969	19.1 °C
1970	19.1 °C
1971	17.8 °C
1972	17.5 °C
1973	18.3 °C
1974	18.3 °C
1975	18.1 °C
1976	18.3 °C
1977	19.8 °C
1978	18.6 °C
1979	18.1 °C
1980	19.5 °C
1981	18.7 °C
1982	18.1 °C
1983	19.0 °C
1984	17.9 °C
1985	19.2 °C
1986	19.0 °C
1987	19.3 °C
1988	19.0 °C
1989	17.2 °C
1990	18.6 °C
1991	19.9 °C
1992	17.7 °C
1996	18.7 °C
1997	18.1 °C
1998	19.9 °C
1999	19.3 °C
2000	18.5 °C
2002	19.9 °C
2003	18.4 °C
2004	19.3 °C
2005	19.8 °C
2006	19.5 °C
2007	19.8 °C
2008	19.1 °C
2009	18.6 °C
2010	21.1 °C
2011	20.5 °C
2012	20.2 °C
2013	19.2 °C
2014	18.8 °C
2015	20.7 °C
2016	19.6 °C
2017	19.3 °C
2018	19.4 °C
2019	20.2 °C
2020	19.1 °C
2023	19.8 °C
2024	20.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, Scotland'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 Chambersburg 1 Ese (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Guilford Fayetteville Chambersburg Shippensburg Guilford Siding Mont Alto