When to plant in West Chester, PA

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

Safe to plant out

May 12

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 17

1 year in 10 by Oct 4

Frost-free days

168

median, 1991–2020

Station used: W Chester 2 Nw · 2.5 km away · station 114 m, town 140 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 17 – Mar 31	May 12 – May 26	Jul 6
Sweet pepper	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 12 – May 26	Jul 11
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 24 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 10
Peas	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	May 16
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 7 – May 19	Jun 6
Beet	—	Apr 3 – May 15	May 23
Potato	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 16
Kale	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 13
Broccoli	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 21	May 30
Cucumber	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 1
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jun 26
Winter squash	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 31
Sweet corn	—	May 5 – May 26	Jul 4
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 29
Garlic	—	Oct 3 – Oct 31 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	Apr 29
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for West Chester

West Chester'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	Apr 11
1896	Apr 9
1897	Apr 21
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 11
1900	Apr 11
1901	Mar 30
1902	Apr 4
1903	Apr 6
1904	Apr 22
1905	Apr 19
1906	Apr 24
1907	Apr 21
1908	Apr 17
1909	Apr 12
1910	Mar 22
1911	Apr 18
1912	Apr 11
1913	Apr 21
1915	Apr 4
1916	Apr 10
1917	Apr 15
1920	Apr 15
1921	Apr 12
1922	Apr 29
1923	Apr 19
1924	Apr 21
1925	Apr 21
1926	Apr 27
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 22
1929	Mar 19
1930	Apr 24
1931	Mar 22
1932	Apr 15
1933	Apr 23
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 25
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 11
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 23
1941	Apr 3
1942	Apr 14
1943	Apr 18
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 23
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 22
1951	Mar 27
1952	Mar 30
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 20
1958	Apr 9
1959	Apr 13
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 21
1962	Apr 17
1963	May 12
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 5
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 28
1969	Apr 6
1970	May 8
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 16
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 28
1976	Apr 13
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 11
1980	Apr 17
1981	Apr 22
1982	Apr 23
1983	May 18
1984	Apr 23
1985	May 4
1986	May 4
1987	Mar 30
1988	Mar 23
1989	Apr 24
1991	Apr 4
2000	May 1
2001	Apr 30
2002	May 22
2003	Apr 20
2004	Apr 17
2005	May 5
2006	May 2
2007	Apr 21
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 25
2010	May 11
2011	Apr 7
2012	Apr 30
2013	Apr 27
2014	Apr 26
2015	Apr 25
2016	May 16

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	207
1896	182
1897	206
1898	203
1899	174
1900	191
1901	220
1902	208
1903	203
1904	188
1905	185
1906	170
1907	183
1908	198
1909	183
1910	220
1911	197
1912	205
1913	193
1915	203
1916	218
1917	180
1921	196
1922	172
1923	195
1924	183
1926	177
1928	187
1929	212
1930	177
1931	229
1932	202
1933	185
1935	215
1936	184
1937	186
1938	212
1939	184
1940	178
1941	205
1942	195
1943	195
1944	192
1945	163
1946	198
1947	143
1948	172
1949	193
1950	187
1951	220
1952	203
1953	168
1954	203
1955	210
1956	153
1958	179
1959	188
1961	189
1962	190
1963	134
1964	180
1965	182
1966	173
1969	199
1970	151
1972	166
1973	185
1974	147
1975	157
1976	181
1977	171
1978	160
1979	182
1980	188
1981	170
1982	170
1983	129
1984	166
1985	177
1986	167
1987	198
1988	199
1989	193
2000	151
2002	145
2003	165
2004	183
2005	175
2006	163
2007	190
2008	172
2009	176
2010	164
2011	198
2012	165
2013	180
2014	161
2015	175
2016	162

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	18.9 °C
1894	19.2 °C
1895	19.7 °C
1896	19.8 °C
1897	18.5 °C
1898	19.3 °C
1899	19.3 °C
1900	20.0 °C
1901	19.3 °C
1902	18.8 °C
1903	18.6 °C
1904	18.4 °C
1905	19.2 °C
1906	20.2 °C
1907	17.5 °C
1908	19.6 °C
1909	18.7 °C
1910	19.2 °C
1911	19.6 °C
1912	19.1 °C
1913	19.4 °C
1915	19.4 °C
1916	19.2 °C
1917	18.5 °C
1921	19.9 °C
1922	19.0 °C
1923	18.6 °C
1924	16.8 °C
1926	17.9 °C
1927	17.3 °C
1928	18.2 °C
1929	18.7 °C
1930	19.9 °C
1931	19.7 °C
1932	19.0 °C
1933	19.4 °C
1935	18.5 °C
1936	19.3 °C
1937	19.2 °C
1938	19.6 °C
1939	19.7 °C
1940	18.0 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	19.6 °C
1943	19.4 °C
1944	19.8 °C
1945	19.2 °C
1946	18.7 °C
1947	19.3 °C
1948	19.0 °C
1949	19.8 °C
1950	18.3 °C
1951	19.3 °C
1952	19.9 °C
1953	19.9 °C
1954	19.6 °C
1955	20.6 °C
1956	18.9 °C
1958	19.3 °C
1959	20.8 °C
1960	19.7 °C
1961	18.8 °C
1962	18.9 °C
1963	18.1 °C
1964	18.7 °C
1965	19.1 °C
1966	18.9 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1972	17.7 °C
1973	18.5 °C
1974	17.8 °C
1975	17.7 °C
1976	18.1 °C
1977	18.8 °C
1978	18.1 °C
1979	18.3 °C
1980	19.7 °C
1981	18.8 °C
1982	17.7 °C
1983	17.9 °C
1984	16.8 °C
1985	18.4 °C
1986	19.6 °C
1987	20.8 °C
1988	20.2 °C
1991	19.8 °C
2000	18.3 °C
2001	18.9 °C
2002	19.9 °C
2003	18.6 °C
2004	19.6 °C
2005	19.9 °C
2006	18.8 °C
2007	18.8 °C
2008	18.8 °C
2009	18.4 °C
2010	20.2 °C
2011	20.1 °C
2012	19.5 °C
2013	18.6 °C
2014	18.4 °C
2015	19.7 °C
2016	19.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, West Chester's last spring frost has come about 1 day later per decade, on average. The frost-free season has shrunk 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 W Chester 2 Nw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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