Sow by Season
Choose your town

When to plant in Lena, IL

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

Safe to plant out
May 10
1 year in 10 has a later frost
Average last frost
Apr 28
about a 50% chance of a later one
Average first fall frost
Oct 7
1 year in 10 by Sep 29
Frost-free days
161
median, 1991–2020

Station used: Stockton 3nne · 14.0 km away · station 296 m, town 289 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Lena plan

Planting dates for common crops

CropStart indoorsPlant out or sowHarvest from
Tomato Mar 15 – Mar 29 May 10 – May 24 Jul 4
Sweet pepper Mar 1 – Mar 15 May 10 – May 24 Jul 9
Lettuce (leaf) Feb 26 – Mar 5 Apr 2 – Apr 16 May 12
Peas — Apr 2 – Apr 30 May 27
Bush beans — May 3 – May 24 Jun 22
Carrot — Apr 11 – May 23 Jun 10
Beet — Apr 11 – May 23 May 31
Potato — Apr 11 – May 2 Jun 20
Kale Feb 26 – Mar 12 Apr 9 – Apr 23 May 22
Broccoli Feb 19 – Mar 5 Apr 2 – Apr 23 Jun 1
Cucumber Apr 12 – Apr 19 May 10 – May 24 Jun 29
Summer squash and zucchini Apr 12 – Apr 19 May 10 – May 24 Jun 24
Winter squash Apr 12 – Apr 19 May 10 – May 24 Jul 29
Sweet corn — May 3 – May 24 Jul 2
Onion (from sets) — Apr 2 – Apr 23 Jul 1
Garlic — Sep 23 – Oct 21 (fall) following summer
Spinach — Apr 2 – Apr 30 May 10
Basil Mar 29 – Apr 12 May 10 – May 24 Jul 6

Plan all 65 crops for Lena

Lena's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Apr 15May 1May 15Jun 1 19501960197019801990200020102020
Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend
See the data as a table
YearLast spring frost
1944Apr 28
1945May 10
1948May 8
1949Apr 24
1950May 2
1951Apr 26
1952Apr 25
1953May 13
1954May 20
1955Apr 7
1956May 16
1957May 5
1958May 23
1959Apr 21
1960May 8
1961May 1
1962Apr 20
1963Apr 24
1964Apr 8
1965May 29
1966May 11
1967May 16
1968Apr 25
1969Apr 29
1970May 6
1971May 3
1972Apr 25
1973Apr 13
1974May 7
1975Apr 20
1976May 3
1977May 9
1978May 3
1979May 1
1980May 9
1981May 12
1982Apr 28
1983May 10
1984May 16
1985Apr 29
1986May 3
1987May 5
1988Apr 27
1989May 12
1991Apr 20
1992May 6
1993Apr 21
1994May 1
1995Apr 25
1996Apr 29
1997May 16
1998Apr 28
1999Apr 25
2000Apr 13
2001Apr 18
2002May 21
2003Apr 23
2004May 3
2005May 5
2006Apr 9
2007Apr 16
2008Apr 29
2009Apr 17
2010Apr 18
2011May 4
2012Apr 27
2013Apr 21
2014Apr 23
2015Apr 27
2016May 15
2017May 3
2018Apr 29
2019Apr 28
2020May 9
2021May 8
2022May 4
2023May 4
2024Apr 25
2025Apr 17
2026May 7

What this means for you: Since 1944, Lena'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 Stockton 3nne (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

StocktonWarrenFreeportGeorgetownMonroe, WILanark