When to plant in La Harpe, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 30

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 21

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 16

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

174

median, 1991–2020

Station used: La Harpe · 0.9 km away · station 207 m, town 213 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 5 – Mar 19	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 24
Sweet pepper	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 29
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 17 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 3
Peas	—	Mar 24 – Apr 21	May 18
Bush beans	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 12
Carrot	—	Apr 2 – May 14	Jun 1
Beet	—	Apr 2 – May 14	May 22
Potato	—	Apr 2 – Apr 23	Jun 11
Kale	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 13
Broccoli	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 14	May 23
Cucumber	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 19
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 14
Winter squash	Apr 2 – Apr 9	Apr 30 – May 14	Jul 19
Sweet corn	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jun 22
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 24 – Apr 14	Jun 22
Garlic	—	Oct 2 – Oct 30 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 24 – Apr 21	May 1
Basil	Mar 19 – Apr 2	Apr 30 – May 14	Jun 26

Plan all 65 crops for La Harpe

La Harpe'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
1896	Apr 5
1897	Apr 19
1898	Apr 14
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 13
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 17
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 18
1906	May 9
1907	May 16
1908	May 2
1909	May 3
1910	Apr 25
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 19
1913	Apr 29
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 9
1916	Apr 9
1917	May 6
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 11
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 26
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	Apr 2
1930	Apr 25
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 25
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	May 1
1941	Mar 29
1942	Apr 11
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 6
1945	May 9
1946	Apr 27
1947	Apr 21
1948	Apr 9
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 20
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 25
1957	May 4
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 1
1961	Apr 29
1962	Apr 16
1963	Apr 24
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 16
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 27
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 29
1970	Apr 7
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 9
1975	May 1
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 2
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 16
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 10
1990	May 11
1991	Apr 25
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 1
1995	Apr 25
1996	Apr 30
1997	Apr 26
1998	Apr 17
1999	Apr 12
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 12
2004	Apr 14
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 27
2009	Apr 14
2010	Apr 8
2012	Apr 21
2013	Apr 21
2014	Apr 18
2015	Apr 23
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 8
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 27
2023	Apr 24
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 9
2026	Apr 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1896	167
1897	192
1898	182
1899	165
1900	186
1901	164
1902	148
1903	174
1904	184
1905	176
1906	153
1907	131
1908	149
1909	161
1910	179
1911	171
1912	159
1913	145
1914	187
1915	149
1916	161
1917	152
1918	141
1919	168
1920	139
1921	168
1922	174
1923	163
1924	171
1925	137
1926	152
1927	172
1928	149
1929	203
1930	174
1931	180
1932	161
1933	168
1934	185
1935	152
1936	182
1937	179
1938	196
1939	170
1940	147
1941	212
1942	168
1943	177
1944	158
1945	152
1946	167
1947	198
1948	190
1949	175
1950	156
1951	167
1952	169
1953	169
1954	150
1955	194
1956	196
1957	159
1958	154
1959	171
1960	170
1961	179
1962	190
1963	187
1964	179
1965	190
1966	159
1967	154
1968	161
1969	167
1970	185
1971	206
1972	157
1973	203
1974	166
1975	170
1976	165
1977	164
1978	158
1979	179
1980	178
1981	180
1982	182
1983	154
1984	177
1985	173
1986	174
1987	180
1988	159
1989	136
1990	152
1991	164
1992	171
1993	170
1994	176
1995	149
1996	163
1997	174
1998	187
1999	175
2000	176
2001	169
2002	188
2003	172
2004	173
2005	174
2006	167
2009	177
2010	202
2012	167
2013	180
2014	195
2015	176
2016	212
2017	203
2018	177
2019	166
2020	159
2021	192
2022	163
2023	188
2024	177
2025	196

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1896	20.9 °C
1897	20.3 °C
1898	19.9 °C
1899	19.5 °C
1900	20.6 °C
1901	20.2 °C
1902	18.4 °C
1903	18.9 °C
1904	18.0 °C
1905	19.2 °C
1906	19.9 °C
1907	17.3 °C
1908	19.6 °C
1909	18.8 °C
1910	18.2 °C
1911	20.6 °C
1912	19.2 °C
1913	20.3 °C
1914	20.5 °C
1915	18.3 °C
1916	19.3 °C
1917	17.6 °C
1918	19.2 °C
1919	20.3 °C
1920	18.7 °C
1922	20.1 °C
1923	18.9 °C
1924	17.2 °C
1925	20.5 °C
1926	18.9 °C
1927	18.6 °C
1928	18.3 °C
1929	18.9 °C
1930	21.0 °C
1931	20.3 °C
1932	19.9 °C
1933	20.6 °C
1934	22.0 °C
1935	18.6 °C
1936	21.5 °C
1937	19.5 °C
1938	19.8 °C
1939	19.9 °C
1940	19.2 °C
1941	21.1 °C
1942	19.7 °C
1943	19.6 °C
1944	19.9 °C
1945	18.5 °C
1946	19.3 °C
1947	19.7 °C
1948	20.3 °C
1949	19.9 °C
1950	18.2 °C
1951	18.9 °C
1952	20.1 °C
1953	19.8 °C
1954	20.3 °C
1955	20.8 °C
1956	19.8 °C
1957	19.6 °C
1958	18.8 °C
1959	20.0 °C
1960	19.2 °C
1961	18.5 °C
1962	19.9 °C
1963	20.0 °C
1964	20.6 °C
1965	19.9 °C
1966	19.0 °C
1968	18.8 °C
1969	19.6 °C
1970	20.0 °C
1971	19.3 °C
1972	19.3 °C
1973	19.3 °C
1974	18.6 °C
1975	18.3 °C
1976	18.5 °C
1977	20.6 °C
1978	19.1 °C
1979	19.3 °C
1980	20.4 °C
1981	19.6 °C
1982	18.6 °C
1983	19.7 °C
1984	18.4 °C
1985	19.2 °C
1986	19.6 °C
1987	20.7 °C
1988	19.8 °C
1989	18.0 °C
1990	17.4 °C
1991	20.4 °C
1992	17.9 °C
1993	18.4 °C
1994	18.7 °C
1995	18.6 °C
1996	17.9 °C
1997	17.8 °C
1998	20.1 °C
1999	19.0 °C
2000	18.8 °C
2001	19.0 °C
2002	19.1 °C
2003	18.3 °C
2004	19.1 °C
2005	20.7 °C
2006	19.5 °C
2009	18.1 °C
2010	20.5 °C
2011	19.4 °C
2012	20.2 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.7 °C
2015	19.9 °C
2016	20.2 °C
2017	19.5 °C
2018	19.8 °C
2019	19.3 °C
2020	18.6 °C
2021	19.3 °C
2022	18.9 °C
2023	19.3 °C
2024	19.8 °C
2025	19.8 °C
2026	20.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1896, La Harpe's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 La Harpe (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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