When to plant in El Paso, IL

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

Safe to plant out

May 9

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 13

1 year in 10 by Oct 4

Frost-free days

168

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Minonk · 19.3 km away · station 229 m, town 229 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 14 – Mar 28	May 9 – May 23	Jul 3
Sweet pepper	Feb 28 – Mar 14	May 9 – May 23	Jul 8
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 22 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 8
Peas	—	Mar 26 – Apr 23	May 20
Bush beans	—	May 2 – May 23	Jun 21
Carrot	—	Apr 5 – May 17	Jun 4
Beet	—	Apr 4 – May 16	May 24
Potato	—	Apr 5 – Apr 26	Jun 14
Kale	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 15
Broccoli	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 19	May 28
Cucumber	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 28
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jun 23
Winter squash	Apr 11 – Apr 18	May 9 – May 23	Jul 28
Sweet corn	—	May 2 – May 23	Jul 1
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 29 – Apr 19	Jun 27
Garlic	—	Sep 29 – Oct 27 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 26 – Apr 23	May 3
Basil	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 9 – May 23	Jul 5

Plan all 65 crops for El Paso

El Paso'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
1897	May 2
1898	Apr 21
1899	Apr 16
1900	May 5
1901	Apr 23
1902	Apr 20
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 27
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 9
1907	May 11
1908	May 2
1909	May 3
1910	May 14
1911	Apr 24
1912	Apr 30
1913	May 11
1914	Apr 20
1915	Apr 13
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 22
1923	May 10
1924	Apr 11
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 13
1929	Apr 16
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 30
1932	May 2
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	May 12
1939	May 3
1940	May 4
1941	Apr 25
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	May 9
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 17
1950	Apr 29
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 15
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	May 5
1958	May 6
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 3
1966	May 10
1967	May 3
1968	May 5
1969	Apr 30
1971	May 13
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 17
1974	May 7
1975	Apr 15
1976	May 7
1977	May 10
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 10
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 27
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 7
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 21
1989	May 8
1990	Apr 19
1991	Mar 31
1992	May 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 25
1996	Apr 28
1997	Apr 22
1998	Apr 6
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 18
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 26
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 16
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 27
2013	May 12
2014	Apr 24
2015	May 1
2016	Apr 14
2017	Apr 8
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 27
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 16
2026	Apr 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	140
1898	175
1900	164
1901	148
1902	176
1903	169
1904	178
1905	172
1906	153
1907	154
1908	149
1909	161
1910	161
1911	182
1913	162
1914	187
1915	177
1916	136
1917	135
1918	141
1919	173
1920	139
1921	140
1922	177
1923	126
1924	193
1926	144
1927	168
1928	133
1929	154
1930	154
1931	170
1932	156
1933	178
1934	182
1935	167
1936	182
1937	163
1938	164
1939	150
1940	144
1941	185
1942	157
1943	156
1944	157
1945	146
1946	156
1947	179
1948	182
1950	158
1951	179
1952	170
1953	190
1954	151
1955	193
1956	196
1957	166
1958	147
1959	172
1960	160
1961	174
1962	186
1963	179
1964	179
1965	191
1966	148
1967	148
1968	151
1969	166
1971	133
1972	171
1973	169
1974	138
1975	193
1976	153
1977	155
1978	163
1979	179
1981	143
1982	171
1983	136
1984	171
1985	178
1986	174
1987	176
1988	166
1989	138
1990	174
1991	198
1992	141
1993	170
1994	163
1995	150
1996	165
1997	175
1998	198
1999	175
2000	176
2001	170
2002	144
2003	161
2004	154
2005	171
2006	168
2007	151
2008	180
2009	176
2010	147
2011	169
2012	161
2013	162
2014	177
2015	168
2016	209
2017	203
2018	165
2019	166
2020	159
2021	172
2022	163
2023	184
2024	172
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	18.9 °C
1898	18.6 °C
1900	19.5 °C
1901	19.1 °C
1902	17.8 °C
1903	18.0 °C
1904	17.3 °C
1905	19.1 °C
1906	19.9 °C
1907	16.9 °C
1908	19.7 °C
1909	18.7 °C
1910	18.9 °C
1911	20.7 °C
1913	20.0 °C
1914	20.4 °C
1915	18.4 °C
1916	19.2 °C
1917	17.5 °C
1918	18.6 °C
1919	19.7 °C
1920	18.5 °C
1921	20.8 °C
1922	20.1 °C
1923	19.2 °C
1924	17.6 °C
1926	18.1 °C
1927	18.0 °C
1928	17.7 °C
1929	18.0 °C
1930	19.8 °C
1931	19.9 °C
1932	19.1 °C
1933	20.3 °C
1934	20.6 °C
1935	18.2 °C
1936	20.8 °C
1937	19.2 °C
1938	19.4 °C
1939	19.4 °C
1940	18.7 °C
1941	20.2 °C
1942	18.9 °C
1943	18.6 °C
1944	19.7 °C
1945	17.7 °C
1946	18.5 °C
1947	18.7 °C
1948	19.1 °C
1949	19.5 °C
1950	17.9 °C
1951	18.4 °C
1952	19.8 °C
1953	19.1 °C
1954	19.6 °C
1955	20.2 °C
1956	18.9 °C
1957	18.7 °C
1958	18.0 °C
1959	19.7 °C
1960	18.9 °C
1961	18.1 °C
1962	18.9 °C
1963	19.0 °C
1964	19.8 °C
1965	19.1 °C
1966	18.2 °C
1967	18.0 °C
1968	18.9 °C
1969	19.0 °C
1971	18.9 °C
1972	18.4 °C
1973	18.7 °C
1974	18.5 °C
1975	18.7 °C
1976	18.9 °C
1977	20.4 °C
1978	19.4 °C
1979	18.7 °C
1981	18.2 °C
1982	17.6 °C
1983	18.8 °C
1984	17.8 °C
1985	18.6 °C
1986	19.6 °C
1987	19.8 °C
1988	19.9 °C
1989	18.1 °C
1990	18.1 °C
1991	20.7 °C
1992	17.2 °C
1993	18.4 °C
1994	18.2 °C
1995	18.6 °C
1996	17.9 °C
1997	17.5 °C
1998	20.2 °C
1999	19.6 °C
2001	19.1 °C
2002	19.2 °C
2003	18.4 °C
2004	18.6 °C
2005	20.3 °C
2006	19.4 °C
2007	19.8 °C
2008	18.4 °C
2009	17.8 °C
2010	20.7 °C
2011	19.0 °C
2012	20.3 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.6 °C
2015	19.6 °C
2016	20.0 °C
2017	19.4 °C
2018	19.9 °C
2019	19.5 °C
2020	19.1 °C
2021	19.9 °C
2022	19.2 °C
2023	19.4 °C
2024	20.0 °C
2025	20.0 °C
2026	20.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, El Paso's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Gridley Hudson Roanoke Minonk Flanagan Eureka