When to plant in Rural Retreat, VA

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

Safe to plant out

May 22

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Sep 25

Frost-free days

162

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Wytheville · 19.6 km away · station 639 m, town 766 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 27 – Apr 10	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 16
Sweet pepper	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 28 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 14
Peas	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	May 15
Bush beans	—	May 15 – Jun 5	Jul 4
Carrot	—	Apr 11 – May 23	Jun 10
Beet	—	Apr 4 – May 16	May 24
Potato	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 20
Kale	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 17
Broccoli	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jun 3
Cucumber	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 11
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 6
Winter squash	Apr 24 – May 1	May 22 – Jun 5	Aug 10
Sweet corn	—	May 15 – Jun 5	Jul 14
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jul 3
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	Apr 28
Basil	Apr 10 – Apr 24	May 22 – Jun 5	Jul 18

Plan all 65 crops for Rural Retreat

Rural Retreat'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	Apr 23
1894	Apr 24
1896	Apr 9
1897	Apr 21
1898	Apr 28
1899	Apr 17
1901	Apr 22
1902	Apr 18
1903	Apr 5
1904	Apr 22
1930	Apr 27
1931	Apr 7
1932	Apr 19
1933	Apr 13
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1937	Apr 17
1938	Apr 11
1939	May 4
1940	Apr 28
1941	Apr 3
1942	Apr 13
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 29
1945	Apr 8
1946	Apr 13
1947	May 11
1948	Apr 4
1949	Apr 25
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 18
1952	Apr 9
1953	Apr 22
1954	May 5
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 25
1957	May 6
1958	Apr 14
1959	Apr 25
1960	May 2
1961	May 3
1962	Apr 21
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 29
1966	Jun 2
1967	May 23
1968	May 22
1969	May 13
1970	May 7
1971	May 5
1972	Jun 12
1973	May 18
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 27
1976	May 10
1977	May 12
1978	May 3
1979	May 2
1980	May 10
1981	May 13
1982	May 1
1983	May 17
1984	May 17
1985	May 4
1986	May 5
1987	May 9
1988	May 3
1989	May 14
1990	Apr 20
1991	Apr 26
1992	Apr 30
1993	May 22
1994	May 29
1995	Apr 27
1996	May 15
1997	May 23
1998	Apr 14
1999	May 3
2000	Apr 28
2001	May 15
2002	May 23
2003	Apr 25
2004	May 5
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 12
2007	May 9
2008	May 1
2009	May 21
2010	May 11
2011	May 6
2012	Apr 14
2013	May 15
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 7
2016	Apr 14
2017	Apr 10
2018	Apr 22
2019	Apr 16
2020	May 11
2022	Apr 21
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 24
2025	Apr 30
2026	May 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	175
1894	169
1898	170
1899	166
1901	165
1902	179
1903	196
1904	175
1930	157
1931	193
1932	192
1933	180
1934	168
1935	170
1937	180
1938	179
1939	163
1940	151
1941	205
1942	168
1943	155
1944	169
1945	184
1946	182
1947	139
1948	193
1949	192
1950	195
1951	163
1952	177
1953	168
1954	155
1955	198
1956	148
1957	158
1958	175
1959	177
1960	171
1961	154
1962	152
1963	121
1964	162
1965	158
1966	121
1967	122
1968	134
1969	120
1970	144
1971	156
1972	110
1973	151
1974	138
1975	139
1976	135
1977	145
1978	158
1979	164
1980	148
1981	133
1982	168
1983	128
1984	122
1985	132
1986	162
1987	145
1988	155
1989	143
1990	182
1991	153
1992	152
1993	131
1994	134
1995	172
1996	142
1997	104
1998	183
1999	156
2000	141
2001	133
2002	162
2003	159
2004	160
2005	176
2006	162
2007	172
2008	170
2009	150
2010	157
2011	168
2012	179
2014	195
2015	193
2016	194
2017	198
2018	179
2019	190
2020	158
2022	170
2023	179
2024	175
2025	169

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	17.8 °C
1894	17.9 °C
1898	19.1 °C
1899	19.0 °C
1900	19.8 °C
1901	18.2 °C
1902	18.9 °C
1903	18.7 °C
1904	18.2 °C
1930	18.5 °C
1931	18.3 °C
1932	18.3 °C
1933	19.1 °C
1934	19.1 °C
1935	18.0 °C
1937	18.1 °C
1938	18.2 °C
1939	18.7 °C
1940	17.4 °C
1941	19.5 °C
1942	19.0 °C
1943	18.9 °C
1944	19.1 °C
1945	18.9 °C
1946	18.3 °C
1947	18.9 °C
1948	18.9 °C
1949	18.5 °C
1950	17.6 °C
1951	17.5 °C
1952	18.6 °C
1953	18.6 °C
1954	18.5 °C
1955	18.8 °C
1956	17.4 °C
1957	18.5 °C
1958	18.0 °C
1959	18.7 °C
1960	18.2 °C
1961	17.1 °C
1962	17.9 °C
1963	17.9 °C
1964	18.3 °C
1965	18.4 °C
1966	17.4 °C
1967	16.4 °C
1968	17.2 °C
1969	17.9 °C
1970	18.8 °C
1971	17.9 °C
1972	17.6 °C
1973	18.5 °C
1974	17.6 °C
1975	18.5 °C
1976	17.4 °C
1977	19.2 °C
1978	18.9 °C
1979	18.1 °C
1980	18.7 °C
1981	18.5 °C
1982	18.0 °C
1983	17.9 °C
1984	17.6 °C
1985	18.6 °C
1986	19.2 °C
1987	19.2 °C
1988	18.6 °C
1989	17.5 °C
1990	17.8 °C
1991	18.4 °C
1992	16.4 °C
1993	17.7 °C
1994	16.9 °C
1995	17.8 °C
1997	15.8 °C
1998	18.2 °C
1999	17.6 °C
2000	17.2 °C
2001	17.4 °C
2002	18.1 °C
2003	17.3 °C
2004	17.6 °C
2005	17.8 °C
2006	17.2 °C
2007	17.6 °C
2008	17.0 °C
2009	17.2 °C
2010	19.6 °C
2011	18.9 °C
2012	18.2 °C
2014	18.0 °C
2015	18.8 °C
2016	19.0 °C
2017	18.4 °C
2018	19.1 °C
2019	19.0 °C
2020	17.2 °C
2022	18.3 °C
2023	17.6 °C
2024	18.9 °C
2025	18.1 °C
2026	19.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Rural Retreat's last spring frost has come about 1 day later per decade, on average. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Atkins Wytheville Marion Adwolf Tazewell Springville