When to plant in South Sumter, SC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 9

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 24

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 10

1 year in 10 by Oct 26

Frost-free days

229

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Sumter · 6.0 km away · station 53 m, town 49 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my South Sumter plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 12 – Feb 26	Apr 9 – Apr 23	Jun 3
Sweet pepper	Jan 29 – Feb 12	Apr 9 – Apr 23	Jun 8
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 20 – Jan 27	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 5
Peas	—	Feb 10 – Mar 10	Apr 6
Bush beans	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	May 22
Carrot	—	Mar 3 – Apr 14	May 2
Beet	—	Feb 24 – Apr 7	Apr 15
Potato	—	Mar 3 – Mar 24	May 12
Kale	Jan 13 – Jan 27	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 8
Broccoli	Jan 13 – Jan 27	Feb 24 – Mar 17	Apr 25
Cucumber	Mar 12 – Mar 19	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 29
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 12 – Mar 19	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 24
Winter squash	Mar 12 – Mar 19	Apr 9 – Apr 23	Jun 28
Sweet corn	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jun 1
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 24 – Mar 17	May 25
Garlic	—	Oct 27 – Nov 24 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 10 – Mar 10	Mar 20
Basil	Feb 26 – Mar 12	Apr 9 – Apr 23	Jun 5

Plan all 65 crops for South Sumter

South Sumter'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
1902	Mar 20
1903	Feb 20
1906	Mar 21
1930	Mar 6
1931	Mar 18
1932	Mar 16
1935	Mar 1
1936	Apr 4
1937	Apr 12
1938	Mar 1
1939	Mar 20
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 1
1943	Apr 22
1944	Apr 6
1945	Feb 25
1946	Feb 25
1947	Mar 11
1948	Mar 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 16
1951	Mar 15
1952	Mar 17
1953	Apr 21
1956	Mar 25
1957	Mar 21
1958	Mar 22
1959	Mar 20
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 8
1962	Apr 16
1964	Apr 1
1965	Mar 23
1966	Mar 30
1967	Mar 20
1968	Mar 26
1969	Mar 28
1970	Mar 17
1971	Mar 31
1972	Apr 10
1973	Mar 23
1974	Mar 18
1975	Mar 9
1976	Apr 10
1977	Mar 8
1978	Mar 18
1979	Mar 26
1980	Mar 15
1981	Mar 22
1982	Apr 8
1983	Apr 20
1984	Mar 13
1985	Apr 10
1987	Apr 2
1988	Mar 23
1989	Apr 13
1990	Mar 22
1991	Apr 22
1992	Apr 7
1993	Mar 20
1994	Mar 12
1995	Mar 25
1996	Apr 11
1997	Apr 1
1998	Mar 13
1999	Mar 17
2000	Feb 23
2001	Mar 29
2002	Mar 24
2003	Apr 1
2004	Mar 25
2005	Mar 10
2006	Mar 28
2007	Apr 9
2008	Mar 26
2009	Apr 9
2010	Mar 9
2011	Mar 30
2012	Mar 7
2013	Mar 30
2014	Mar 28
2015	Mar 30
2017	Mar 18
2018	Mar 23
2019	Mar 7
2020	Mar 8
2021	Apr 3
2022	Mar 15
2023	Mar 22
2024	Feb 25
2025	Mar 7
2026	Mar 18

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1906	203
1930	230
1931	228
1935	219
1936	225
1937	194
1938	268
1939	225
1940	209
1941	223
1942	224
1943	178
1944	214
1945	252
1946	271
1947	260
1948	203
1949	200
1950	210
1951	233
1952	218
1953	199
1956	229
1957	220
1958	233
1959	234
1960	206
1961	201
1962	191
1964	234
1965	215
1966	218
1967	222
1968	217
1969	231
1970	243
1971	221
1972	226
1973	231
1974	199
1975	250
1976	201
1977	248
1978	252
1979	223
1980	241
1981	211
1982	211
1983	199
1984	239
1987	202
1988	204
1989	217
1990	252
1991	196
1992	222
1993	225
1994	256
1995	228
1996	191
1997	229
1998	226
1999	245
2000	270
2001	237
2002	243
2003	226
2004	234
2005	252
2006	210
2008	216
2009	232
2010	242
2011	213
2012	243
2013	209
2014	219
2015	228
2017	246
2018	237
2020	238
2021	234
2022	217
2023	224
2024	277
2025	248

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1903	23.6 °C
1906	24.7 °C
1930	24.0 °C
1931	23.7 °C
1932	23.7 °C
1935	23.8 °C
1936	24.1 °C
1937	23.4 °C
1938	23.6 °C
1939	24.0 °C
1940	23.6 °C
1941	24.7 °C
1942	25.0 °C
1943	24.5 °C
1944	24.7 °C
1945	25.2 °C
1946	24.0 °C
1947	24.6 °C
1948	23.6 °C
1949	23.3 °C
1950	23.6 °C
1951	24.1 °C
1952	24.3 °C
1953	24.1 °C
1954	24.8 °C
1956	23.7 °C
1957	24.1 °C
1958	23.9 °C
1959	23.7 °C
1960	23.8 °C
1961	21.9 °C
1962	23.6 °C
1963	22.9 °C
1964	22.8 °C
1965	23.1 °C
1966	22.4 °C
1967	21.7 °C
1968	24.1 °C
1969	23.8 °C
1970	24.4 °C
1971	23.2 °C
1972	23.2 °C
1973	23.6 °C
1974	23.4 °C
1975	23.6 °C
1976	22.6 °C
1977	24.7 °C
1978	24.1 °C
1979	23.1 °C
1980	24.4 °C
1981	22.8 °C
1982	23.0 °C
1983	22.9 °C
1984	22.4 °C
1985	23.1 °C
1986	24.4 °C
1987	23.8 °C
1989	22.8 °C
1990	23.6 °C
1991	23.9 °C
1992	22.1 °C
1993	23.8 °C
1994	23.1 °C
1995	23.5 °C
1997	22.2 °C
1998	23.9 °C
2000	23.7 °C
2001	23.5 °C
2002	24.3 °C
2003	23.0 °C
2004	23.7 °C
2005	23.5 °C
2006	23.4 °C
2007	23.4 °C
2008	22.9 °C
2009	22.8 °C
2010	24.0 °C
2011	23.3 °C
2012	22.2 °C
2013	21.3 °C
2014	21.6 °C
2015	22.1 °C
2017	23.6 °C
2018	23.8 °C
2020	22.7 °C
2021	22.6 °C
2022	24.3 °C
2023	23.9 °C
2024	24.8 °C
2025	24.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1902, South Sumter's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Sumter (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Lakewood Sumter East Sumter Privateer Cane Savannah Cherryvale