Last and first frost dates in Cedar Rapids

When is the last frost in Cedar Rapids?

The last frost in Cedar Rapids usually comes around 22 April: that is the median of 2016–2025, so in about half of those years the last night at or below 0 °C came later. Hardy crops start before it and frost-tender ones only after it: in the table below arugula can go into open ground from 1 April, while corn waits until 29 April. The first autumn frost follows around 25 October, about 186 days later: harvest or cover frost-tender crops before then.

When to sow and plant

Planting out: a week after the last frost once the soil is warm enough for the crop; frost-hardy crops three weeks before it; an unheated greenhouse three weeks earlier. Seedlings are sown so they are ready on that day. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

When the soil warms up in Cedar Rapids

The day the top 7 cm of soil first averages each temperature over a week, median of 2016–2025 (ERA5 via Open-Meteo). The soil reaches 10 °C 7 days before the last spring frost and 15 °C 19 days after it.

Frost dates near Cedar Rapids

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Des Moines (19 April) and latest in Madison (27 April).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Cedar Rapids

Within 15 km of Cedar Rapids OpenStreetMap lists 5 garden centres, 3 markets and 1 farm shop (collected 28 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is Walmart Garden Center, 3 km away.

• Walmart Garden Center — garden centre
  Mon–Sun, public holidays 06:00–23:00 · 3 km
• NewBo City Market — market
  3rd Street Southeast 1100, 52401 Cedar Rapids · Mon–Fri 10:00–20:00; Sat 10:00–18:00; Sun 10:00–16:00 · 2 km · newbocitymarket.org
• MHM Ranch — farm shop
  East Bertram Road 1443, 52403 Cedar Rapids · 14 km
• Frontier Garden Center — garden centre
  Blairs Ferry Road Northeast 1941, 52402 Cedar Rapids · 8 km · facebook.com
• Karibu Market — market
  3rd Avenue Southeast 707, 52401 Cedar Rapids · 3 km · karibumarketcedarrapids.com
• Earl May Garden Center — garden centre
  Northland Avenue Northeast 5155, 52402 Cedar Rapids · Mon–Sat 09:00–18:00; Sun 12:00–17:00 · 9 km · earlmay.com

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Cedar Rapids
• Selling your own harvest in the United States

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Cedar Rapids by month

Average weather in Cedar Rapids over 2016–2025: the warmest month is July. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: May–September (21.9–28.6 °C). Nights average below 0 °C in December–March (-10–-0.5 °C). About 941 mm of rain falls in a year, on 112 days; May is the wettest month (115 mm) and February the driest (38 mm).

Average of the daily highs and lows, rain per month and days with at least 1 mm (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, the same grid cell as the frost dates).

Planted in autumn

From a month before the first autumn frost, so the roots grow before winter, to the late-planting limit on each crop’s page (about two weeks before the ground freezes, by ten years of weather).