When to plant in Lexington, VA

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

Safe to plant out

May 11

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 24

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 20

1 year in 10 by Oct 8

Frost-free days

174

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lexington · 0.9 km away · station 334 m, town 324 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Lexington plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 16 – Mar 30	May 11 – May 25	Jul 5
Sweet pepper	Mar 2 – Mar 16	May 11 – May 25	Jul 10
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 20 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 6
Peas	—	Mar 13 – Apr 10	May 7
Bush beans	—	May 4 – May 25	Jun 23
Carrot	—	Apr 3 – May 15	Jun 2
Beet	—	Mar 27 – May 8	May 16
Potato	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 12
Kale	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 9
Broccoli	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 17	May 26
Cucumber	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 30
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jun 25
Winter squash	Apr 13 – Apr 20	May 11 – May 25	Jul 30
Sweet corn	—	May 4 – May 25	Jul 3
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 27 – Apr 17	Jun 25
Garlic	—	Oct 6 – Nov 3 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 13 – Apr 10	Apr 20
Basil	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 11 – May 25	Jul 7

Plan all 65 crops for Lexington

Lexington'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
1890	Apr 21
1891	May 6
1893	Apr 24
1894	Apr 25
1895	Apr 19
1896	Apr 8
1897	Apr 21
1898	Apr 13
1899	Apr 17
1900	Apr 15
1902	Apr 16
1903	May 2
1904	Apr 22
1905	Apr 24
1906	May 11
1907	Apr 22
1908	Apr 22
1909	May 3
1910	May 15
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 24
1913	May 12
1914	Apr 13
1915	Apr 18
1916	Apr 28
1917	May 11
1918	May 2
1919	Apr 27
1920	May 15
1921	Apr 20
1922	Apr 30
1923	May 11
1924	Apr 24
1925	May 27
1926	May 5
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	Apr 23
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 6
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 23
1937	May 1
1938	Apr 24
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 28
1941	May 12
1942	Apr 19
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 29
1945	Apr 20
1946	May 9
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 20
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 18
1952	Apr 9
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 5
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 25
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 14
1959	Apr 24
1960	Apr 19
1961	May 28
1962	Apr 22
1963	May 3
1964	Apr 11
1965	Apr 17
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 29
1968	May 7
1969	May 13
1970	May 7
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 27
1973	May 18
1974	May 7
1975	Apr 14
1976	May 9
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 29
1980	Apr 17
1981	May 3
1982	Apr 24
1983	May 11
1984	Apr 19
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 29
1988	Apr 25
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 23
1992	Apr 29
1993	Apr 29
1994	May 4
1995	Apr 26
1996	May 14
1997	May 11
1998	Apr 12
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 1
2001	Apr 27
2002	May 23
2004	Apr 16
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 30
2007	Apr 12
2008	May 1
2009	Apr 22
2010	May 10
2011	Apr 8
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 6
2016	Apr 15
2017	Apr 10
2018	Apr 22
2019	Apr 4
2020	May 11
2021	Apr 24
2022	Apr 21
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 23

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1890	189
1893	174
1894	172
1896	182
1897	160
1898	193
1899	166
1900	185
1902	181
1903	169
1904	177
1905	171
1906	152
1907	173
1909	152
1910	166
1911	174
1912	175
1913	161
1914	197
1915	174
1916	156
1917	143
1918	159
1919	191
1920	166
1921	171
1922	171
1923	151
1924	179
1925	146
1926	169
1927	173
1928	179
1929	168
1930	177
1931	194
1932	183
1933	166
1934	168
1935	170
1936	187
1937	166
1938	180
1939	183
1940	150
1941	152
1942	162
1943	155
1944	169
1945	176
1946	145
1947	141
1948	183
1949	199
1950	197
1951	176
1952	194
1953	168
1954	185
1955	189
1956	148
1957	179
1958	175
1959	177
1960	184
1961	141
1962	179
1963	143
1964	177
1965	170
1966	148
1967	173
1968	150
1969	157
1970	150
1971	183
1972	166
1973	152
1974	148
1975	199
1976	158
1977	159
1978	158
1979	168
1980	179
1981	153
1982	175
1983	135
1984	202
1985	179
1986	164
1987	162
1988	163
1989	167
1990	190
1991	167
1992	171
1993	154
1994	159
1995	173
1996	150
1997	161
1998	193
2000	190
2001	162
2002	161
2004	203
2005	175
2006	165
2007	199
2008	170
2009	179
2010	165
2011	197
2014	194
2015	194
2016	203
2017	199
2018	182
2019	197
2020	172
2021	192
2022	170
2023	179

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1890	19.7 °C
1891	19.1 °C
1893	19.1 °C
1894	19.3 °C
1895	19.5 °C
1896	20.7 °C
1897	19.0 °C
1898	19.3 °C
1899	19.7 °C
1900	20.7 °C
1902	19.4 °C
1903	19.0 °C
1904	19.0 °C
1905	20.0 °C
1906	20.4 °C
1907	17.8 °C
1908	19.2 °C
1909	18.6 °C
1910	18.9 °C
1911	20.1 °C
1912	19.8 °C
1913	19.1 °C
1914	19.7 °C
1915	19.4 °C
1916	19.2 °C
1917	18.7 °C
1918	18.5 °C
1919	18.9 °C
1920	18.2 °C
1921	20.1 °C
1922	20.0 °C
1923	19.4 °C
1924	18.4 °C
1925	19.7 °C
1926	19.2 °C
1927	18.3 °C
1928	18.2 °C
1929	19.3 °C
1930	20.5 °C
1932	19.7 °C
1933	20.5 °C
1934	20.4 °C
1935	19.5 °C
1936	20.2 °C
1937	18.8 °C
1938	19.2 °C
1939	19.5 °C
1940	19.0 °C
1941	20.6 °C
1942	20.4 °C
1943	20.1 °C
1944	20.5 °C
1945	20.2 °C
1946	19.4 °C
1947	19.9 °C
1948	19.9 °C
1949	20.0 °C
1950	18.5 °C
1951	19.7 °C
1952	20.5 °C
1953	20.7 °C
1954	20.3 °C
1955	20.8 °C
1956	19.8 °C
1957	20.8 °C
1958	20.0 °C
1959	21.2 °C
1960	20.5 °C
1961	19.3 °C
1962	19.5 °C
1963	19.7 °C
1964	20.1 °C
1965	20.4 °C
1966	19.5 °C
1967	18.9 °C
1968	19.9 °C
1969	19.9 °C
1970	20.7 °C
1971	19.4 °C
1972	19.1 °C
1973	19.9 °C
1974	19.3 °C
1975	19.7 °C
1976	19.0 °C
1977	20.4 °C
1978	20.2 °C
1979	19.7 °C
1980	21.0 °C
1981	20.6 °C
1982	19.9 °C
1983	19.1 °C
1984	18.9 °C
1985	19.6 °C
1986	20.2 °C
1987	20.7 °C
1988	19.7 °C
1989	19.5 °C
1990	19.6 °C
1991	20.6 °C
1992	18.8 °C
1993	20.1 °C
1994	19.2 °C
1995	19.6 °C
1996	19.3 °C
1997	18.8 °C
1998	20.5 °C
2000	19.6 °C
2001	19.4 °C
2004	21.9 °C
2005	20.0 °C
2006	19.6 °C
2007	20.2 °C
2008	19.3 °C
2009	19.2 °C
2010	20.9 °C
2011	20.6 °C
2014	19.1 °C
2015	20.3 °C
2016	20.6 °C
2017	19.9 °C
2018	20.6 °C
2019	20.8 °C
2020	19.2 °C
2021	19.8 °C
2022	19.8 °C
2023	19.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1890, Lexington's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Lexington (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

East Lexington Buena Vista Glasgow Clifton Forge Buchanan Amherst