Last and first frost dates in Lincoln

When is the last frost in Lincoln?

The last frost in Lincoln usually comes around 16 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 26 March, while corn waits until 23 April. The first autumn frost follows around 28 October, about 195 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 Lincoln

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 16 days before the last spring frost and 15 °C 7 days after it.

Frost dates near Lincoln

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Kansas City (7 April) and latest in Des Moines (19 April).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Lincoln

Within 15 km of Lincoln OpenStreetMap lists 7 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 7 plant nurseries and 1 market (collected 28 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is Campbell's Nursery & Garden Center, 3 km away.

• Campbell's Nursery & Garden Center — garden centre
  South 40th Street 2342, 68506 Lincoln · 3 km
• Miller Seed Company — farm supply
  Cornhusker Highway 1600, 68521 Lincoln · 4 km
• Nebraska Nursery and Color Gardens — plant nursery
  South Coddington Avenue 4240, 68523 Lincoln · 8 km
• Farmers Market — market
  Sun 10:00–14:00 · 4 km
• Earl May Garden & Nursery — garden centre
  Wedgewood Drive 100, 68510 Lincoln · Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00; Sat 09:00–17:00; Sun 11:00–17:00 · 4 km · earlmay.com
• Walmart Garden Center — garden centre
  North 27th Street 4700, 68504 · 5 km

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

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Lincoln by month

Average weather in Lincoln over 2016–2025: the warmest month is July. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: May–September (23.5–31.2 °C). Months that average 30 °C or more by day: June (30.6 °C) and July (31.2 °C). Nights average below 0 °C in January (-7.3 °C), February (-6.3 °C) and December (-4.3 °C). About 745 mm of rain falls in a year, on 90 days; May is the wettest month (128 mm) and February the driest (23 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).