When to plant in Villisca, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 8

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 23

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 7

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

171

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Corning · 19.4 km away · station 363 m, town 328 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 13 – Mar 27	May 8 – May 22	Jul 2
Sweet pepper	Feb 27 – Mar 13	May 8 – May 22	Jul 7
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 22 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 8
Peas	—	Mar 29 – Apr 26	May 23
Bush beans	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 20
Carrot	—	Apr 9 – May 21	Jun 8
Beet	—	Apr 9 – May 21	May 29
Potato	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 18
Kale	Feb 22 – Mar 8	Apr 5 – Apr 19	May 18
Broccoli	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 19	May 28
Cucumber	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 27
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 22
Winter squash	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jul 27
Sweet corn	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 30
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 29 – Apr 19	Jun 27
Garlic	—	Sep 23 – Oct 21 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 29 – Apr 26	May 6
Basil	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 8 – May 22	Jul 4

Plan all 65 crops for Villisca

Villisca'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	May 2
1894	May 19
1895	May 12
1896	Apr 6
1897	Apr 20
1898	Apr 15
1899	Apr 16
1900	May 3
1901	Apr 22
1902	Apr 23
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 27
1905	Apr 21
1906	May 9
1907	May 27
1908	May 2
1909	May 10
1910	May 13
1911	May 2
1912	Apr 27
1913	Apr 28
1914	May 13
1915	May 17
1916	May 18
1917	May 25
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 28
1921	May 4
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 28
1927	Apr 24
1929	May 16
1930	Apr 24
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 15
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1937	Apr 25
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 19
1940	May 1
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 4
1943	Apr 20
1944	May 6
1945	May 9
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 24
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	May 15
1960	May 1
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 16
1963	Apr 23
1964	Apr 9
1966	May 10
1967	May 4
1968	Apr 26
1969	Apr 30
1970	May 3
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 28
1974	Apr 18
1975	May 1
1977	Apr 26
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 28
1980	May 9
1982	Apr 23
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 19
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 13
1988	Apr 29
1989	May 8
1990	May 2
1991	Apr 11
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 18
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 28
1996	May 1
1997	May 14
1998	Apr 18
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 18
2002	Apr 10
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 4
2009	Apr 14
2010	Apr 9
2018	Apr 26
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 11
2021	May 5
2023	Apr 24
2024	Apr 21
2026	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	145
1894	141
1895	140
1896	174
1897	191
1898	181
1899	162
1901	148
1902	141
1903	158
1904	178
1905	173
1906	144
1907	120
1908	148
1909	153
1910	145
1911	171
1912	151
1913	146
1914	164
1915	141
1916	119
1917	124
1918	141
1919	167
1920	154
1921	152
1922	162
1923	162
1925	134
1926	149
1927	189
1932	161
1933	175
1934	183
1935	146
1937	153
1938	179
1939	163
1940	188
1941	185
1942	142
1943	177
1944	156
1945	152
1946	152
1947	161
1948	185
1950	154
1951	157
1952	172
1953	181
1954	163
1955	190
1956	184
1958	154
1959	146
1960	170
1961	148
1962	190
1963	188
1964	179
1967	146
1968	160
1969	166
1970	159
1971	158
1972	157
1973	183
1974	156
1977	159
1978	163
1979	139
1980	130
1982	175
1983	153
1984	159
1985	168
1986	173
1987	172
1988	157
1989	151
1990	160
1991	160
1992	157
1993	174
1994	176
1995	146
1997	152
1998	200
1999	155
2000	159
2002	179
2003	171
2004	150
2009	172
2010	176
2018	171
2019	179
2020	143
2023	168
2024	177

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	17.3 °C
1894	19.6 °C
1895	19.1 °C
1896	18.9 °C
1897	19.3 °C
1898	19.2 °C
1901	19.3 °C
1902	17.3 °C
1903	17.6 °C
1904	16.9 °C
1905	18.3 °C
1906	18.7 °C
1907	16.8 °C
1908	18.3 °C
1909	18.1 °C
1910	18.0 °C
1911	19.7 °C
1912	18.7 °C
1913	19.7 °C
1914	19.9 °C
1915	17.4 °C
1916	18.2 °C
1917	16.9 °C
1918	19.8 °C
1919	19.3 °C
1920	17.7 °C
1921	20.1 °C
1922	19.0 °C
1923	18.3 °C
1925	19.6 °C
1926	18.6 °C
1927	17.9 °C
1928	18.2 °C
1929	18.7 °C
1932	19.5 °C
1933	19.9 °C
1934	21.6 °C
1935	18.7 °C
1937	20.0 °C
1938	20.0 °C
1939	20.0 °C
1940	18.6 °C
1941	20.3 °C
1942	18.9 °C
1943	18.8 °C
1944	18.8 °C
1945	17.6 °C
1946	18.5 °C
1947	18.9 °C
1948	19.6 °C
1951	17.2 °C
1952	19.1 °C
1953	19.2 °C
1954	20.2 °C
1955	21.0 °C
1956	19.3 °C
1957	18.9 °C
1958	18.4 °C
1959	18.9 °C
1960	18.2 °C
1961	17.6 °C
1962	19.0 °C
1963	19.8 °C
1964	19.1 °C
1966	17.6 °C
1967	17.3 °C
1968	18.0 °C
1969	18.0 °C
1970	19.1 °C
1971	18.7 °C
1972	18.3 °C
1973	17.8 °C
1974	18.0 °C
1977	19.6 °C
1978	18.4 °C
1979	17.4 °C
1980	19.0 °C
1981	18.4 °C
1982	16.7 °C
1983	18.4 °C
1984	18.2 °C
1985	17.9 °C
1986	19.0 °C
1987	19.1 °C
1988	19.9 °C
1989	18.1 °C
1990	18.2 °C
1991	19.2 °C
1992	16.9 °C
1993	17.1 °C
1994	18.1 °C
1995	17.8 °C
1996	17.3 °C
1997	17.4 °C
1998	19.5 °C
1999	18.4 °C
2000	19.1 °C
2001	18.0 °C
2002	19.0 °C
2003	18.3 °C
2004	17.9 °C
2009	17.1 °C
2010	19.3 °C
2018	18.9 °C
2019	18.7 °C
2020	18.4 °C
2023	19.3 °C
2024	19.3 °C
2026	19.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Villisca's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Corning Clarinda Red Oak Lenox Bedford Shenandoah