When to plant in Stanwood, WA

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 19

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 10

1 year in 10 by Oct 27

Frost-free days

228

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Coupeville 1 S · 24.1 km away · station 15 m, town 2 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 12 – Mar 26	May 7 – May 21	Jul 1
Sweet pepper	Feb 26 – Mar 12	May 7 – May 21	Jul 6
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 18 – Jan 25	Feb 22 – Mar 8	Apr 3
Peas	—	Feb 22 – Mar 22	Apr 18
Bush beans	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 15
Carrot	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 22
Beet	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 12
Potato	—	Mar 23 – Apr 13	Jun 1
Kale	Jan 18 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 13
Broccoli	Jan 11 – Jan 25	Feb 22 – Mar 15	Apr 23
Cucumber	Apr 9 – Apr 16	May 7 – May 21	Jun 26
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 9 – Apr 16	May 7 – May 21	Jun 21
Winter squash	Apr 9 – Apr 16	May 7 – May 21	Jul 26
Sweet corn	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Feb 22 – Mar 15	May 23
Garlic	—	Oct 9 – Nov 6 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 22 – Mar 22	Apr 1
Basil	Mar 26 – Apr 9	May 7 – May 21	Jul 3

Plan all 65 crops for Stanwood

Stanwood'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
1896	Apr 16
1897	Mar 30
1898	Apr 18
1899	May 14
1900	Mar 13
1902	Mar 29
1903	Apr 10
1904	Mar 27
1905	Mar 18
1906	Mar 20
1907	Apr 28
1908	Mar 27
1926	Mar 25
1927	Apr 30
1928	Apr 7
1929	Apr 9
1930	Mar 31
1931	Apr 19
1932	Mar 11
1933	Apr 9
1934	Apr 3
1935	Apr 27
1936	Apr 4
1937	Mar 26
1938	Apr 2
1940	Apr 3
1941	Mar 14
1942	Mar 27
1943	Apr 4
1944	Apr 9
1945	Apr 13
1946	Mar 31
1947	Mar 27
1948	Apr 27
1949	Apr 14
1950	Apr 24
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 8
1953	Apr 7
1954	May 1
1955	Apr 28
1956	Apr 6
1957	Mar 28
1958	Mar 27
1959	Apr 7
1960	Mar 19
1961	Apr 20
1962	May 7
1963	Apr 2
1964	May 17
1965	May 1
1966	Apr 19
1967	Apr 8
1968	Apr 21
1969	Apr 26
1970	Apr 17
1971	Apr 17
1972	Apr 10
1973	Apr 29
1974	Apr 14
1976	Apr 3
1977	Apr 20
1978	Apr 9
1979	Mar 23
1980	Apr 16
1981	Apr 14
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 14
1984	Apr 27
1985	Apr 21
1986	Mar 15
1987	Mar 30
1988	Apr 9
1989	Mar 24
1990	Mar 26
1991	Mar 27
1994	Mar 26
1997	Apr 6
1998	Mar 6
1999	Mar 11
2000	Feb 19
2001	Mar 23
2002	Mar 22
2003	Feb 27
2004	Feb 21
2005	Feb 24
2006	Mar 20
2007	Apr 3
2008	Apr 3
2009	Apr 4
2010	Apr 10
2011	Mar 7
2012	Apr 7
2014	Mar 22
2016	Mar 17
2017	Mar 20
2018	Mar 25
2019	Mar 11
2020	Mar 18

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1896	213
1897	229
1898	208
1900	248
1902	251
1903	215
1905	213
1907	223
1908	181
1926	182
1927	193
1928	187
1929	207
1930	198
1931	210
1932	243
1933	231
1934	219
1935	177
1936	211
1937	231
1938	198
1940	219
1941	228
1942	214
1943	235
1944	216
1945	189
1946	198
1947	233
1948	172
1949	187
1950	160
1951	191
1952	212
1953	209
1954	175
1955	196
1956	204
1957	217
1958	210
1959	210
1960	229
1961	180
1962	199
1963	199
1964	140
1965	205
1966	191
1967	207
1968	193
1969	169
1970	180
1971	181
1972	169
1973	186
1974	173
1976	197
1977	201
1978	198
1979	221
1980	188
1981	189
1982	179
1983	211
1984	174
1985	169
1986	238
1987	230
1988	200
1989	221
1990	236
1991	214
1997	220
1999	221
2000	264
2001	239
2002	221
2003	245
2004	271
2005	276
2006	223
2007	205
2008	244
2009	241
2010	224
2011	243
2012	216
2014	234
2016	263
2017	228
2018	227
2019	212

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1896	12.7 °C
1897	13.4 °C
1898	15.0 °C
1900	13.6 °C
1902	13.4 °C
1903	13.2 °C
1904	14.0 °C
1905	14.2 °C
1907	13.8 °C
1908	12.8 °C
1926	14.1 °C
1927	13.2 °C
1928	13.4 °C
1929	12.9 °C
1930	13.6 °C
1931	14.0 °C
1932	13.2 °C
1933	12.7 °C
1934	13.9 °C
1935	13.3 °C
1936	13.8 °C
1937	13.2 °C
1938	13.7 °C
1940	14.4 °C
1941	14.3 °C
1942	14.0 °C
1943	13.7 °C
1944	13.8 °C
1945	13.4 °C
1946	13.5 °C
1947	13.8 °C
1948	13.0 °C
1949	13.2 °C
1950	12.8 °C
1951	13.3 °C
1952	12.9 °C
1953	13.0 °C
1954	12.8 °C
1955	12.2 °C
1956	13.7 °C
1957	14.5 °C
1958	16.0 °C
1959	13.9 °C
1960	13.8 °C
1961	14.4 °C
1962	13.3 °C
1963	13.7 °C
1964	12.4 °C
1965	13.1 °C
1966	13.4 °C
1967	14.1 °C
1968	13.6 °C
1969	13.8 °C
1970	13.2 °C
1971	13.2 °C
1972	13.2 °C
1973	13.4 °C
1974	13.3 °C
1975	12.9 °C
1976	12.9 °C
1977	13.3 °C
1978	13.7 °C
1979	14.0 °C
1980	13.1 °C
1981	13.5 °C
1982	13.2 °C
1983	13.7 °C
1984	13.2 °C
1985	13.4 °C
1986	13.5 °C
1987	13.8 °C
1988	13.4 °C
1989	13.9 °C
1990	14.2 °C
1991	13.6 °C
1997	14.3 °C
1999	13.6 °C
2000	14.0 °C
2003	15.2 °C
2004	15.6 °C
2006	14.6 °C
2009	14.7 °C
2010	14.0 °C
2011	13.6 °C
2012	13.7 °C
2014	14.9 °C
2016	15.2 °C
2017	14.6 °C
2018	14.0 °C
2019	14.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1896, Stanwood's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. 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 Coupeville 1 S (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Warm Beach Camano Bryant Smokey Point Arlington Tulalip