When to plant in Chatham, VA

Planting dates worked out from Chatham'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 18

1 year in 10 by Oct 3

Frost-free days

170

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Chatham · 1.2 km away · station 197 m, town 222 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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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 17 – Apr 14	May 11
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 7 – May 19	Jun 6
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
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 4 – Nov 1 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	Apr 24
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for Chatham

Chatham'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
1924	Apr 3
1925	Apr 7
1926	Apr 27
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 30
1929	Apr 19
1930	Apr 27
1931	Apr 28
1932	Apr 1
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 24
1937	May 1
1938	Apr 24
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 14
1941	Apr 3
1942	Apr 19
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 7
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 17
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 5
1955	Apr 9
1956	May 9
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 2
1959	Apr 5
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 30
1962	Apr 17
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 5
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	Apr 17
1969	Apr 25
1970	May 7
1972	Apr 27
1973	Apr 15
1975	Apr 23
1976	May 9
1977	May 12
1978	May 4
1979	May 1
1980	May 11
1981	May 13
1982	May 1
1983	May 12
1984	May 18
1985	May 4
1986	May 5
1987	Apr 30
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 13
1990	Apr 20
1991	Apr 24
1992	Apr 30
1993	Apr 29
1994	Apr 24
1995	Apr 27
1996	May 3
1997	May 12
1998	Apr 29
1999	Apr 26
2000	Apr 6
2001	Apr 28
2002	May 23
2003	Apr 25
2004	May 4
2005	Apr 29
2006	Apr 11
2007	May 7
2008	Apr 30
2009	May 21
2010	May 10
2011	Apr 7
2012	Apr 26
2013	May 15
2014	Apr 22
2015	Apr 29
2016	Apr 18
2017	Apr 10
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 16
2020	May 11
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 21
2023	May 11
2024	Apr 24
2025	May 10
2026	May 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1924	180
1925	186
1926	181
1927	194
1928	179
1929	200
1930	176
1931	172
1932	214
1933	170
1934	168
1935	172
1936	186
1937	166
1938	166
1939	183
1940	187
1941	208
1942	163
1943	172
1944	192
1945	189
1946	198
1947	139
1948	183
1949	200
1950	202
1951	161
1952	193
1953	168
1954	185
1955	198
1956	154
1957	179
1958	219
1959	211
1960	193
1961	179
1962	190
1963	181
1964	180
1965	183
1966	162
1967	173
1968	170
1969	175
1970	162
1972	166
1973	185
1979	157
1981	134
1983	133
1984	123
1985	132
1986	163
1987	157
1988	159
1989	148
1990	181
1991	156
1992	154
1993	154
1994	170
1995	172
1996	162
1997	163
1998	176
1999	178
2000	185
2001	161
2002	147
2003	160
2004	185
2005	180
2006	185
2007	174
2008	172
2009	150
2010	166
2011	198
2012	178
2013	158
2014	166
2015	170
2016	201
2017	199
2018	171
2019	190
2020	159
2021	192
2022	180
2023	165
2024	176
2025	166

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1924	20.3 °C
1925	22.0 °C
1926	21.3 °C
1927	20.2 °C
1928	20.4 °C
1929	20.9 °C
1930	22.3 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	21.2 °C
1933	22.0 °C
1934	21.7 °C
1935	20.4 °C
1936	21.1 °C
1937	20.5 °C
1938	21.0 °C
1939	21.1 °C
1940	20.3 °C
1941	21.4 °C
1942	21.6 °C
1943	21.7 °C
1944	21.7 °C
1946	20.6 °C
1947	21.1 °C
1948	20.7 °C
1949	21.0 °C
1950	20.4 °C
1951	20.7 °C
1952	21.0 °C
1953	21.3 °C
1954	21.4 °C
1955	21.3 °C
1956	20.2 °C
1957	20.9 °C
1958	20.6 °C
1959	21.2 °C
1960	21.0 °C
1961	19.9 °C
1962	20.3 °C
1963	20.4 °C
1964	20.5 °C
1965	20.9 °C
1966	20.0 °C
1967	19.4 °C
1968	20.4 °C
1969	20.6 °C
1970	21.2 °C
1972	19.7 °C
1973	20.6 °C
1976	18.2 °C
1978	19.2 °C
1979	18.5 °C
1981	18.8 °C
1982	18.6 °C
1983	18.9 °C
1984	18.1 °C
1985	19.2 °C
1986	19.7 °C
1987	20.0 °C
1988	19.1 °C
1990	19.4 °C
1991	20.4 °C
1992	18.1 °C
1993	20.0 °C
1994	19.4 °C
1995	19.5 °C
1996	19.4 °C
1997	17.8 °C
1998	20.2 °C
1999	19.4 °C
2000	19.2 °C
2001	19.2 °C
2002	20.2 °C
2003	19.1 °C
2004	19.8 °C
2005	19.8 °C
2006	19.6 °C
2007	20.1 °C
2008	19.5 °C
2009	19.3 °C
2010	20.9 °C
2011	20.6 °C
2012	19.8 °C
2013	18.8 °C
2014	18.9 °C
2015	19.7 °C
2016	20.1 °C
2017	20.2 °C
2018	20.9 °C
2019	21.2 °C
2020	19.4 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2022	19.9 °C
2023	18.6 °C
2024	20.3 °C
2025	20.4 °C
2026	21.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1924, Chatham's last spring frost has come about 2 days later per decade, on average. The frost-free season has shrunk 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 Chatham (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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