When to plant in Purcellville, VA

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

Safe to plant out

May 9

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 21

1 year in 10 by Oct 8

Frost-free days

182

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Purcellville · 0.8 km away · station 155 m, town 170 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Purcellville plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 14 – Mar 28	May 9 – May 23	Jul 3
Sweet pepper	Feb 28 – Mar 14	May 9 – May 23	Jul 8
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 17 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 3
Peas	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	May 11
Bush beans	—	May 2 – May 23	Jun 21
Carrot	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 30
Beet	—	Mar 27 – May 8	May 16
Potato	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 9
Kale	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 6
Broccoli	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 14	May 23
Cucumber	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 28
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 23
Winter squash	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jul 28
Sweet corn	—	May 2 – May 23	Jul 1
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 22
Garlic	—	Oct 7 – Nov 4 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	Apr 24
Basil	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for Purcellville

Purcellville'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
1901	Apr 4
1902	Apr 16
1903	May 2
1904	Apr 22
1905	Apr 24
1906	May 11
1907	May 12
1908	Apr 14
1909	May 3
1910	May 16
1911	Apr 25
1912	Apr 11
1913	May 12
1914	May 1
1915	Apr 16
1916	Apr 11
1917	Apr 15
1918	Apr 14
1919	Apr 25
1920	Apr 15
1921	Apr 12
1922	Apr 24
1923	Apr 15
1924	Apr 4
1925	Apr 21
1926	Apr 27
1928	Apr 28
1929	Apr 2
1930	Apr 24
1931	Mar 26
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 25
1941	Mar 31
1942	Apr 13
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 6
1945	May 2
1946	Apr 11
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 9
1953	Apr 20
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 17
1957	May 4
1958	Apr 9
1959	Apr 14
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 21
1962	Apr 17
1963	Apr 10
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 5
1967	Apr 13
1968	Apr 6
1969	Apr 7
1970	Apr 11
1971	Apr 14
1972	Apr 27
1973	Apr 15
1975	Apr 14
1976	May 5
1977	Apr 10
1978	Mar 30
1979	Apr 11
1980	Apr 18
1981	Apr 16
1982	Apr 12
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 11
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 20
1989	Apr 23
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 3
1992	Apr 13
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 15
1995	Apr 15
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 26
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 30
2002	May 22
2003	Apr 2
2004	Apr 17
2005	May 7
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 18
2009	Apr 17
2010	May 11
2011	Apr 7
2012	Apr 26
2013	May 15
2014	Apr 22
2015	Apr 13
2016	Apr 15
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 3
2020	Apr 19
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 19
2023	Apr 9
2024	Mar 26
2025	Apr 9
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1901	185
1902	170
1903	169
1904	153
1905	165
1906	151
1907	149
1908	171
1909	162
1910	160
1911	182
1912	188
1913	162
1914	150
1915	177
1916	182
1917	174
1919	191
1921	196
1922	179
1923	199
1925	189
1926	181
1928	180
1929	217
1930	179
1931	225
1932	196
1933	181
1934	167
1935	170
1936	186
1937	180
1938	203
1940	177
1941	208
1942	196
1943	184
1944	192
1945	154
1946	218
1947	183
1948	183
1949	202
1951	195
1952	194
1953	170
1954	180
1955	205
1956	126
1957	161
1959	197
1960	192
1961	189
1962	190
1963	165
1965	183
1967	206
1968	182
1969	197
1970	220
1971	206
1972	166
1973	204
1975	199
1976	159
1977	216
1978	201
1979	181
1980	188
1981	179
1982	188
1983	191
1984	205
1985	201
1986	175
1987	185
1988	172
1989	194
1990	190
1991	193
1992	176
1993	154
1994	178
1995	202
1998	177
1999	171
2000	200
2001	160
2002	145
2003	183
2005	172
2007	197
2009	185
2010	164
2011	198
2012	169
2013	157
2014	199
2015	188
2016	193
2018	180
2019	212
2020	194
2021	193
2022	183
2023	206
2024	215
2025	199

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1901	19.7 °C
1902	20.3 °C
1903	18.7 °C
1904	19.0 °C
1905	19.4 °C
1906	20.6 °C
1907	18.4 °C
1908	20.4 °C
1909	19.7 °C
1910	20.1 °C
1911	21.2 °C
1912	19.7 °C
1913	19.5 °C
1914	19.7 °C
1915	20.1 °C
1916	19.3 °C
1917	18.9 °C
1920	19.2 °C
1921	21.2 °C
1922	20.6 °C
1923	20.3 °C
1924	18.6 °C
1925	20.8 °C
1926	19.5 °C
1928	19.2 °C
1929	20.4 °C
1930	22.1 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	21.1 °C
1933	21.5 °C
1934	21.8 °C
1935	20.3 °C
1936	21.4 °C
1937	20.8 °C
1938	21.2 °C
1939	21.1 °C
1940	19.8 °C
1941	21.5 °C
1942	21.1 °C
1943	21.0 °C
1944	21.4 °C
1945	20.8 °C
1946	20.0 °C
1947	20.4 °C
1949	20.8 °C
1950	19.6 °C
1951	20.6 °C
1952	20.8 °C
1953	21.1 °C
1954	20.4 °C
1955	20.9 °C
1956	19.5 °C
1957	20.9 °C
1958	20.1 °C
1959	21.5 °C
1960	20.6 °C
1961	20.1 °C
1962	20.0 °C
1963	20.2 °C
1964	20.6 °C
1965	20.9 °C
1967	19.6 °C
1968	20.4 °C
1969	20.6 °C
1970	20.8 °C
1971	20.0 °C
1972	19.5 °C
1973	20.6 °C
1975	20.1 °C
1976	19.9 °C
1977	21.1 °C
1978	20.6 °C
1979	19.7 °C
1980	21.2 °C
1981	20.5 °C
1982	19.9 °C
1983	20.3 °C
1984	19.9 °C
1985	20.7 °C
1986	21.3 °C
1987	21.2 °C
1988	21.1 °C
1989	20.2 °C
1990	19.9 °C
1991	21.8 °C
1992	19.1 °C
1993	21.1 °C
1995	20.1 °C
1998	19.9 °C
1999	19.0 °C
2000	18.7 °C
2001	18.6 °C
2002	19.5 °C
2003	18.5 °C
2005	19.3 °C
2007	19.5 °C
2008	18.6 °C
2009	18.6 °C
2011	20.0 °C
2012	19.8 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.5 °C
2015	19.8 °C
2018	20.5 °C
2019	21.1 °C
2020	19.5 °C
2021	20.1 °C
2022	20.0 °C
2023	19.8 °C
2024	20.8 °C
2025	20.2 °C
2026	20.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1901, Purcellville's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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