When to plant in Middletown, VA

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

Safe to plant out

May 14

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 16

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

170

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Winchester 7 Se · 14.2 km away · station 207 m, town 218 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 19 – Apr 2	May 14 – May 28	Jul 8
Sweet pepper	Mar 5 – Mar 19	May 14 – May 28	Jul 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 23 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 9
Peas	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	May 15
Bush beans	—	May 7 – May 28	Jun 26
Carrot	—	Apr 6 – May 18	Jun 5
Beet	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 21
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 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Jul 3
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Jun 28
Winter squash	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Aug 2
Sweet corn	—	May 7 – May 28	Jul 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 28
Garlic	—	Oct 2 – Oct 30 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	Apr 28
Basil	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 14 – May 28	Jul 10

Plan all 65 crops for Middletown

Middletown'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
1913	Apr 21
1914	Apr 10
1915	Apr 4
1916	Apr 9
1917	Apr 15
1918	Apr 14
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 11
1921	Apr 11
1922	Apr 24
1923	Apr 16
1924	Apr 2
1925	May 4
1926	Apr 30
1927	Apr 28
1928	Apr 29
1929	Mar 30
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 30
1932	Apr 17
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 11
1939	Apr 14
1940	Apr 23
1941	Apr 3
1942	Apr 14
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 6
1945	May 2
1946	Apr 11
1947	May 10
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 18
1952	Apr 9
1953	Apr 20
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 5
1956	May 17
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 9
1959	Apr 14
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 17
1962	Apr 17
1963	Apr 10
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 5
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 13
1968	May 7
1969	Apr 7
1970	Apr 11
1971	Apr 15
1972	Apr 27
1973	Apr 15
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 16
1976	Apr 13
1977	Apr 29
1978	Apr 23
1979	Apr 29
1980	Apr 17
1981	May 8
1982	Apr 29
1983	May 10
1984	May 17
1985	May 9
1986	May 4
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 20
1991	Apr 25
1992	May 21
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 24
1995	Apr 15
1996	May 15
1997	May 8
1999	May 1
2000	Apr 15
2002	May 22
2003	Apr 14
2004	Apr 17
2005	May 7
2006	Apr 30
2007	Apr 12
2008	Apr 17
2011	Apr 6
2012	Apr 27
2016	Apr 17
2017	May 9
2019	Apr 4
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 24
2022	May 11
2024	Apr 23
2025	Apr 18
2026	Apr 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1913	183
1914	200
1915	215
1916	191
1917	174
1919	194
1920	205
1921	185
1922	190
1923	199
1924	203
1925	160
1926	178
1927	168
1928	177
1929	192
1930	175
1931	171
1932	196
1933	181
1934	167
1935	170
1936	186
1937	180
1938	179
1939	184
1940	178
1941	205
1942	195
1943	168
1944	192
1945	154
1946	215
1947	186
1949	202
1950	187
1951	198
1952	194
1953	170
1954	180
1955	200
1956	126
1957	178
1958	179
1959	197
1960	193
1961	193
1962	190
1963	167
1964	172
1965	183
1966	159
1967	189
1968	176
1969	199
1970	188
1971	203
1972	166
1973	202
1974	138
1975	197
1976	181
1977	184
1978	168
1979	163
1981	148
1983	136
1984	169
1985	127
1986	155
1990	182
1993	155
1994	164
1995	193
1996	142
1997	165
1999	166
2000	175
2002	145
2003	171
2004	183
2005	172
2006	166
2007	209
2011	199
2012	168
2016	190
2019	197
2020	159
2021	192
2022	160
2024	177

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1912	20.4 °C
1913	20.0 °C
1914	20.1 °C
1915	19.6 °C
1916	20.2 °C
1917	19.2 °C
1918	20.1 °C
1919	20.1 °C
1929	20.6 °C
1930	21.5 °C
1932	20.1 °C
1933	20.5 °C
1934	20.8 °C
1935	19.3 °C
1936	21.0 °C
1937	20.0 °C
1938	20.4 °C
1939	20.4 °C
1940	19.0 °C
1941	20.9 °C
1942	20.6 °C
1943	20.6 °C
1944	20.9 °C
1945	20.1 °C
1946	19.4 °C
1947	20.0 °C
1949	19.8 °C
1950	18.8 °C
1951	19.8 °C
1952	20.3 °C
1953	20.8 °C
1954	20.2 °C
1955	20.7 °C
1956	19.2 °C
1957	20.9 °C
1958	19.6 °C
1959	21.1 °C
1960	19.9 °C
1961	19.7 °C
1962	19.6 °C
1963	19.6 °C
1964	19.8 °C
1965	20.2 °C
1966	19.5 °C
1967	18.6 °C
1968	19.7 °C
1969	20.1 °C
1970	20.5 °C
1971	19.5 °C
1972	19.2 °C
1973	19.7 °C
1974	19.2 °C
1975	19.1 °C
1976	18.9 °C
1977	20.6 °C
1978	19.5 °C
1979	18.2 °C
1981	18.7 °C
1982	18.0 °C
1983	18.6 °C
1984	18.1 °C
1985	18.6 °C
1986	18.8 °C
1989	18.4 °C
1990	18.4 °C
1992	17.4 °C
1993	19.3 °C
1994	19.0 °C
1995	18.9 °C
1996	18.5 °C
1997	17.6 °C
1999	19.2 °C
2000	18.4 °C
2002	19.4 °C
2003	18.4 °C
2004	19.4 °C
2005	19.2 °C
2006	19.0 °C
2007	19.4 °C
2008	18.1 °C
2011	20.3 °C
2012	19.6 °C
2016	19.7 °C
2019	20.1 °C
2020	19.0 °C
2021	19.6 °C
2022	19.1 °C
2024	20.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1913, Middletown's last spring frost has come about 1 day 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 Winchester 7 Se (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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