When to plant in Atlanta, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 29

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 18

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

176

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lincoln · 14.9 km away · station 178 m, town 216 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 4 – Mar 18	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 23
Sweet pepper	Feb 18 – Mar 4	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 28
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 14 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	Apr 30
Peas	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	May 15
Bush beans	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 11
Carrot	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 29
Beet	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 19
Potato	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 8
Kale	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 10
Broccoli	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 11	May 20
Cucumber	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 18
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 13
Winter squash	Apr 1 – Apr 8	Apr 29 – May 13	Jul 18
Sweet corn	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jun 21
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 21 – Apr 11	Jun 19
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	Apr 28
Basil	Mar 18 – Apr 1	Apr 29 – May 13	Jun 25

Plan all 65 crops for Atlanta

Atlanta'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
1906	Apr 23
1910	May 14
1911	May 5
1912	Apr 23
1913	May 10
1914	May 1
1915	Apr 13
1916	May 2
1917	May 8
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 10
1924	May 22
1925	May 26
1926	Apr 26
1927	Apr 25
1928	May 12
1929	May 21
1930	Apr 25
1931	May 3
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	May 26
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	May 1
1941	Mar 29
1942	Apr 20
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 6
1945	Apr 19
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	May 4
1958	May 7
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 3
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 15
1969	Apr 24
1970	Apr 7
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 15
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 6
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 16
1981	Apr 6
1982	Apr 21
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 10
1989	May 6
1991	Apr 21
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 24
1996	Apr 19
1997	Apr 25
1998	Apr 6
1999	Mar 31
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 24
2004	Apr 15
2005	May 5
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 12
2010	Apr 9
2011	Apr 21
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 23
2015	May 1
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 7
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 19
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 12
2026	Apr 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1906	169
1910	161
1911	171
1912	155
1913	134
1914	176
1915	175
1916	136
1917	125
1918	141
1919	168
1920	139
1921	140
1922	165
1923	126
1924	152
1925	136
1926	152
1927	167
1928	134
1929	139
1930	174
1931	167
1932	156
1933	168
1934	154
1935	170
1936	182
1937	180
1938	196
1939	170
1940	189
1941	212
1942	160
1943	178
1944	182
1945	172
1946	167
1947	180
1948	183
1949	188
1950	186
1951	179
1952	169
1953	168
1954	166
1955	193
1956	197
1957	159
1958	146
1959	172
1962	185
1963	180
1964	179
1965	203
1966	162
1967	184
1968	192
1969	175
1970	191
1971	210
1972	172
1973	202
1974	151
1975	193
1976	165
1977	189
1978	168
1979	185
1980	171
1981	195
1982	182
1983	178
1984	181
1985	174
1991	176
1992	163
1993	169
1994	200
1995	150
1996	171
1997	172
1998	190
1999	187
2000	175
2001	170
2002	189
2003	160
2004	170
2005	173
2006	185
2007	194
2008	194
2009	180
2010	178
2011	163
2012	163
2013	183
2014	181
2015	168
2016	191
2017	204
2018	165
2019	181
2020	147
2021	193
2022	171
2023	186
2024	177
2025	193

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1906	21.0 °C
1907	18.4 °C
1910	18.5 °C
1911	20.1 °C
1912	19.6 °C
1913	20.6 °C
1914	20.7 °C
1915	19.3 °C
1916	19.7 °C
1917	18.0 °C
1918	19.4 °C
1919	20.1 °C
1920	19.0 °C
1921	21.5 °C
1922	20.5 °C
1923	19.6 °C
1924	18.1 °C
1925	20.5 °C
1926	18.9 °C
1927	18.6 °C
1928	18.1 °C
1929	18.6 °C
1930	20.5 °C
1931	20.3 °C
1932	19.7 °C
1933	20.4 °C
1934	21.3 °C
1935	19.6 °C
1936	21.9 °C
1937	20.1 °C
1938	20.5 °C
1939	20.3 °C
1940	19.6 °C
1941	20.9 °C
1942	19.9 °C
1943	19.8 °C
1944	20.4 °C
1945	18.9 °C
1946	19.7 °C
1947	20.0 °C
1948	20.7 °C
1949	20.4 °C
1950	18.7 °C
1951	18.8 °C
1952	20.4 °C
1953	20.5 °C
1954	21.4 °C
1955	21.5 °C
1956	20.1 °C
1957	20.1 °C
1958	19.1 °C
1959	20.8 °C
1960	19.9 °C
1961	19.1 °C
1962	20.1 °C
1963	19.7 °C
1964	20.8 °C
1965	20.5 °C
1966	18.8 °C
1967	18.4 °C
1968	19.4 °C
1969	19.6 °C
1970	20.1 °C
1971	19.5 °C
1972	19.5 °C
1973	19.6 °C
1974	18.9 °C
1975	19.5 °C
1976	19.2 °C
1977	21.1 °C
1978	20.1 °C
1979	19.5 °C
1980	20.7 °C
1981	19.7 °C
1982	19.0 °C
1983	19.8 °C
1984	19.1 °C
1985	19.3 °C
1987	20.9 °C
1991	21.4 °C
1992	18.6 °C
1993	18.9 °C
1994	19.1 °C
1995	19.5 °C
1996	18.6 °C
1997	18.1 °C
1998	20.7 °C
1999	19.4 °C
2000	19.2 °C
2001	19.7 °C
2002	19.6 °C
2003	18.6 °C
2004	18.8 °C
2005	20.2 °C
2006	19.7 °C
2007	19.5 °C
2008	18.5 °C
2009	18.3 °C
2010	20.5 °C
2011	19.3 °C
2012	20.1 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.8 °C
2015	19.7 °C
2016	20.1 °C
2017	19.6 °C
2018	19.7 °C
2019	19.9 °C
2020	19.1 °C
2021	19.9 °C
2022	19.2 °C
2023	19.5 °C
2024	19.8 °C
2025	19.7 °C
2026	20.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1906, Atlanta'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 Lincoln (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Richmond (near Delavan)Lincoln Minier Heyworth Clinton Mount Pulaski