When to plant in Bunker Hill, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 28

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 13

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 19

1 year in 10 by Oct 9

Frost-free days

185

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Carlinville · 28.2 km away · station 186 m, town 202 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Bunker Hill plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 22
Sweet pepper	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 27
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 9 – Feb 16	Mar 16 – Mar 30	Apr 25
Peas	—	Mar 16 – Apr 13	May 10
Bush beans	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 10
Carrot	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 23
Beet	—	Mar 24 – May 5	May 13
Potato	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 2
Kale	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 5
Broccoli	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Mar 16 – Apr 6	May 15
Cucumber	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 17
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 12
Winter squash	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jul 17
Sweet corn	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 20
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 16 – Apr 6	Jun 14
Garlic	—	Oct 5 – Nov 2 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 16 – Apr 13	Apr 23
Basil	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 24

Plan all 65 crops for Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill'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	Apr 23
1894	Apr 12
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 4
1897	Apr 20
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 12
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 16
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 7
1907	May 11
1908	Apr 30
1909	Apr 10
1910	Apr 25
1911	May 2
1912	Apr 19
1913	Apr 14
1914	Apr 13
1915	Apr 13
1916	Apr 10
1917	Apr 15
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 10
1924	Apr 10
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 26
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 2
1930	Apr 2
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 21
1941	Mar 29
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 7
1945	Apr 19
1947	Apr 17
1948	Apr 3
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 20
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 8
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	Apr 17
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 2
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 24
1970	Apr 7
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 6
1978	May 2
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 25
1981	Apr 6
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 4
1988	Mar 30
1990	Apr 18
1991	Mar 30
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 17
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 14
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 6
1999	Mar 27
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 13
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 12
2010	Mar 29
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 13
2013	Apr 20
2022	Apr 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	184
1894	179
1895	147
1896	197
1897	191
1898	198
1899	165
1900	188
1901	164
1902	180
1903	169
1904	184
1905	172
1906	155
1907	154
1908	161
1909	184
1910	185
1911	179
1912	163
1913	160
1914	196
1916	183
1917	173
1918	142
1919	174
1920	166
1921	172
1922	180
1923	162
1924	194
1926	177
1927	171
1928	149
1929	173
1930	198
1931	177
1932	161
1933	180
1934	182
1935	170
1936	183
1937	185
1938	196
1939	170
1940	199
1941	212
1942	168
1943	178
1944	181
1945	172
1947	202
1948	196
1949	163
1950	166
1951	158
1953	154
1954	166
1955	193
1956	197
1958	176
1959	172
1960	160
1961	192
1962	190
1963	181
1964	183
1965	192
1966	148
1967	169
1968	161
1969	172
1970	191
1971	160
1972	171
1973	203
1974	151
1975	172
1976	160
1977	189
1978	158
1979	182
1980	162
1981	179
1982	181
1983	136
1984	181
1985	175
1986	201
1987	181
1988	189
1990	175
1991	199
1992	171
1993	175
1994	201
1995	170
1996	187
1997	186
1998	199
1999	204
2006	185
2007	197
2008	181
2009	180
2010	213
2011	176
2012	177
2013	184

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	20.8 °C
1894	21.2 °C
1895	21.2 °C
1896	21.6 °C
1897	20.9 °C
1898	20.9 °C
1899	20.9 °C
1900	21.4 °C
1901	21.3 °C
1902	19.9 °C
1903	19.9 °C
1904	19.0 °C
1905	20.5 °C
1906	21.1 °C
1907	18.8 °C
1908	20.5 °C
1909	20.2 °C
1910	19.5 °C
1911	21.6 °C
1912	20.8 °C
1913	21.9 °C
1914	21.6 °C
1916	20.4 °C
1917	18.8 °C
1918	20.1 °C
1919	20.6 °C
1920	19.3 °C
1921	21.8 °C
1922	21.5 °C
1923	19.8 °C
1924	18.8 °C
1925	21.3 °C
1926	19.8 °C
1927	19.4 °C
1928	19.1 °C
1929	19.7 °C
1930	21.7 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	20.9 °C
1933	21.9 °C
1934	22.2 °C
1935	19.7 °C
1936	22.6 °C
1937	20.8 °C
1938	21.0 °C
1939	21.1 °C
1940	20.3 °C
1941	21.8 °C
1942	20.7 °C
1943	20.7 °C
1944	21.0 °C
1945	19.3 °C
1947	20.2 °C
1948	20.5 °C
1949	20.1 °C
1950	18.6 °C
1951	19.4 °C
1953	21.1 °C
1954	22.0 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	20.5 °C
1958	19.9 °C
1959	21.3 °C
1960	20.6 °C
1961	19.5 °C
1962	20.6 °C
1963	20.6 °C
1964	21.4 °C
1965	20.7 °C
1966	19.3 °C
1967	19.1 °C
1968	19.9 °C
1969	19.9 °C
1970	20.9 °C
1971	20.2 °C
1972	20.1 °C
1973	20.3 °C
1974	19.7 °C
1975	20.1 °C
1976	19.9 °C
1977	21.7 °C
1978	20.8 °C
1979	19.9 °C
1980	21.3 °C
1981	20.6 °C
1982	19.7 °C
1983	20.7 °C
1984	20.1 °C
1985	20.4 °C
1986	21.4 °C
1987	21.8 °C
1988	21.4 °C
1990	20.0 °C
1991	21.8 °C
1992	19.3 °C
1993	20.2 °C
1994	20.0 °C
1995	20.3 °C
1996	19.7 °C
1997	18.9 °C
1998	21.0 °C
1999	20.4 °C
2006	20.6 °C
2007	20.8 °C
2008	19.0 °C
2009	19.0 °C
2010	21.3 °C
2011	20.3 °C
2012	21.0 °C
2013	19.5 °C
2022	20.4 °C

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

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

Nearby towns

Holiday Shores Benld Staunton Gillespie Worden Brighton