Staples, MN 56479 Frost Dates
When can you plant in Staples, MN?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 05/10, roughly 255 days out. The first fall frost typically arrives around 09/30, about 141 frost-free days later.
Zone 4a (-30 to -25°F average annual minimum) comes from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map; the frost dates above are the 1991-2020 normal at the nearest reporting NOAA station for Staples, not a forecast for this year.
What to do before the first frost
About 5 weeks of growing season left in Staples before the first fall frost — a cold frame or row cover can stretch harvest weeks past that date.
How much risk comes with planting early here
05/10 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Plant by 04/29 and you're betting against frost in roughly 9 years out of 10. 05/25 is the safer bet, historically only a 1-in-10 chance of frost that late.
How Staples compares
At roughly 141 frost-free days, Staples places 36,911 of 40,283 ZIP codes in this dataset. Within MN, it ranks 718 of 943.
Learn more
zone vs. frost date covers why Zone 4a and Staples's frost date answer different questions. the frost range covers how to read the range around Staples's dates instead of trusting one.