When to plant in Harrisonburg, VA

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

Safe to plant out

May 13

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 27

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 18

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

172

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Dale Enterprise · 5.8 km away · station 414 m, town 404 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Harrisonburg plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 18 – Apr 1	May 13 – May 27	Jul 7
Sweet pepper	Mar 4 – Mar 18	May 13 – May 27	Jul 12
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 23 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 9
Peas	—	Mar 20 – Apr 17	May 14
Bush beans	—	May 6 – May 27	Jun 25
Carrot	—	Apr 6 – May 18	Jun 5
Beet	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 19
Potato	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 15
Kale	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 12
Broccoli	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 20	May 29
Cucumber	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Jul 2
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Jun 27
Winter squash	Apr 15 – Apr 22	May 13 – May 27	Aug 1
Sweet corn	—	May 6 – May 27	Jul 5
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 28
Garlic	—	Oct 4 – Nov 1 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 20 – Apr 17	Apr 27
Basil	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 13 – May 27	Jul 9

Plan all 65 crops for Harrisonburg

Harrisonburg'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
1893	May 19
1894	Apr 24
1895	May 22
1896	Apr 11
1897	May 4
1898	May 9
1899	Apr 17
1900	May 4
1901	Apr 23
1902	Apr 16
1903	May 7
1904	Apr 22
1905	Apr 24
1906	May 11
1907	May 28
1908	May 3
1909	May 12
1910	May 16
1911	May 7
1912	Jun 9
1913	May 12
1914	May 1
1915	Apr 18
1916	Apr 27
1917	Apr 16
1918	May 2
1919	Apr 27
1920	May 16
1921	Apr 20
1922	Apr 30
1923	May 11
1924	May 22
1925	May 27
1926	May 5
1927	May 1
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 17
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 30
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 28
1934	Apr 29
1935	Apr 18
1936	Apr 25
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 24
1939	May 1
1940	Apr 29
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 5
1944	Apr 14
1945	May 2
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 29
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 9
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 13
1955	Apr 9
1956	May 25
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 4
1959	Apr 24
1960	May 2
1961	May 3
1962	Apr 21
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 17
1966	May 10
1967	May 17
1968	May 8
1969	May 12
1970	May 7
1972	Apr 28
1973	May 18
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 14
1976	May 9
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 29
1980	May 10
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 23
1983	May 10
1984	Apr 19
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 29
1988	May 1
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 23
1992	Apr 6
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 23
1995	Apr 26
1996	May 14
1997	May 11
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 29
2002	May 23
2003	Apr 24
2004	Apr 16
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 19
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 13
2010	May 10
2011	Apr 14
2012	Apr 24
2013	May 14
2014	Apr 25
2015	Apr 12
2016	Apr 16
2017	May 9
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 16
2020	May 13
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 30
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 14
2026	May 8

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	150
1894	170
1895	131
1896	165
1897	140
1898	159
1899	163
1900	165
1901	163
1902	181
1903	164
1904	153
1905	166
1906	152
1907	133
1908	151
1909	143
1910	159
1911	168
1912	129
1913	161
1914	148
1915	173
1916	142
1917	168
1918	142
1919	192
1921	171
1922	171
1923	149
1924	140
1925	135
1926	169
1927	166
1928	175
1929	144
1930	161
1931	170
1932	183
1933	165
1934	166
1935	164
1936	184
1937	180
1938	166
1939	166
1940	172
1942	161
1943	152
1944	184
1945	154
1946	168
1947	142
1948	183
1949	186
1950	187
1951	187
1952	177
1953	168
1954	177
1955	190
1956	118
1957	159
1958	184
1959	186
1960	171
1961	154
1962	153
1963	122
1964	172
1965	171
1966	144
1967	155
1968	149
1969	158
1970	163
1973	152
1974	138
1975	171
1976	162
1977	159
1978	158
1979	163
1980	156
1981	153
1982	176
1983	136
1984	197
1985	201
1986	155
1987	162
1988	157
1989	167
1990	183
1991	167
1992	194
1993	155
1994	170
1995	173
1996	143
1997	162
1998	177
1999	178
2000	176
2001	160
2002	147
2003	161
2004	206
2005	175
2006	176
2008	172
2009	188
2010	165
2011	197
2012	171
2013	163
2014	162
2015	188
2016	192
2017	170
2018	180
2019	185
2020	170
2021	192
2022	161
2023	175
2024	188
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	18.6 °C
1894	19.0 °C
1895	18.8 °C
1896	19.1 °C
1897	18.2 °C
1898	18.1 °C
1899	18.8 °C
1900	19.7 °C
1901	18.0 °C
1902	18.4 °C
1903	17.8 °C
1904	17.8 °C
1905	18.9 °C
1906	19.5 °C
1907	17.2 °C
1908	18.5 °C
1909	18.2 °C
1910	18.1 °C
1911	19.1 °C
1912	18.9 °C
1913	18.7 °C
1914	19.3 °C
1915	18.5 °C
1916	17.9 °C
1917	18.4 °C
1918	18.2 °C
1919	19.1 °C
1920	18.4 °C
1921	20.2 °C
1922	19.5 °C
1923	18.9 °C
1924	17.8 °C
1925	19.7 °C
1926	18.8 °C
1927	18.0 °C
1928	18.0 °C
1929	19.0 °C
1930	19.8 °C
1931	19.3 °C
1932	19.0 °C
1933	19.3 °C
1935	18.4 °C
1936	20.0 °C
1937	18.5 °C
1938	18.9 °C
1939	18.9 °C
1940	17.8 °C
1942	19.5 °C
1943	18.9 °C
1944	19.4 °C
1945	19.2 °C
1946	18.1 °C
1947	19.1 °C
1948	18.6 °C
1949	18.4 °C
1950	17.9 °C
1951	18.6 °C
1952	19.0 °C
1953	19.6 °C
1954	19.0 °C
1955	19.3 °C
1956	18.1 °C
1957	19.5 °C
1958	18.4 °C
1959	19.6 °C
1960	18.9 °C
1961	17.9 °C
1962	18.6 °C
1963	18.9 °C
1964	19.5 °C
1965	19.4 °C
1966	18.4 °C
1967	17.9 °C
1968	19.1 °C
1969	19.4 °C
1970	19.7 °C
1971	18.6 °C
1973	18.4 °C
1974	17.6 °C
1975	18.1 °C
1976	18.5 °C
1977	20.4 °C
1978	19.1 °C
1979	18.3 °C
1980	19.7 °C
1981	19.0 °C
1982	18.6 °C
1983	18.9 °C
1984	18.7 °C
1985	19.2 °C
1986	20.0 °C
1987	19.8 °C
1988	19.3 °C
1989	18.7 °C
1990	19.2 °C
1991	20.5 °C
1992	18.6 °C
1993	19.9 °C
1994	18.7 °C
1995	18.3 °C
1996	17.9 °C
1997	17.2 °C
1998	19.6 °C
1999	19.2 °C
2000	18.1 °C
2001	18.0 °C
2002	19.5 °C
2003	18.1 °C
2004	18.7 °C
2005	18.8 °C
2006	18.1 °C
2008	18.3 °C
2009	18.1 °C
2010	20.2 °C
2011	19.5 °C
2012	19.3 °C
2013	18.4 °C
2014	18.4 °C
2015	19.3 °C
2016	19.5 °C
2017	18.4 °C
2018	19.5 °C
2019	20.5 °C
2020	19.0 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2022	18.6 °C
2023	18.4 °C
2024	19.9 °C
2025	19.4 °C
2026	19.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Harrisonburg'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 Dale Enterprise (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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