When to plant in Louisville, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 20

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 10

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 11

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

184

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Flora 5 Nw · 9.4 km away · station 152 m, town 146 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	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 14
Sweet pepper	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 19
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 6 – Feb 13	Mar 13 – Mar 27	Apr 22
Peas	—	Mar 9 – Apr 6	May 3
Bush beans	—	Apr 13 – May 4	Jun 2
Carrot	—	Mar 20 – May 1	May 19
Beet	—	Mar 19 – Apr 30	May 8
Potato	—	Mar 20 – Apr 10	May 29
Kale	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Mar 16 – Mar 30	Apr 28
Broccoli	Jan 30 – Feb 13	Mar 13 – Apr 3	May 12
Cucumber	Mar 23 – Mar 30	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 9
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 23 – Mar 30	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 4
Winter squash	Mar 23 – Mar 30	Apr 20 – May 4	Jul 9
Sweet corn	—	Apr 13 – May 4	Jun 12
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 13 – Apr 3	Jun 11
Garlic	—	Sep 27 – Oct 25 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 9 – Apr 6	Apr 16
Basil	Mar 9 – Mar 23	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 16

Plan all 65 crops for Louisville

Louisville'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 22
1894	Apr 6
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 4
1897	Apr 20
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 14
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 8
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 17
1906	May 7
1907	Apr 20
1908	Apr 12
1909	Apr 14
1910	Apr 25
1912	Apr 19
1913	Mar 29
1914	Apr 12
1916	Apr 10
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 20
1923	Apr 18
1924	Apr 3
1925	May 25
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 29
1929	Mar 17
1930	Apr 25
1932	Apr 13
1933	Apr 7
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 14
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 20
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 17
1945	Apr 19
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 3
1949	Apr 19
1952	Apr 6
1953	Apr 20
1954	Apr 9
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 23
1957	Apr 15
1959	Apr 13
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 16
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 1
1966	May 10
1967	May 3
1968	May 6
1969	Mar 31
1970	Apr 7
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 9
1977	Apr 7
1978	May 6
1979	May 5
1980	May 9
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 23
1983	May 9
1984	May 16
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 30
1989	Apr 11
1990	Apr 18
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 12
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 14
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 6
2003	Mar 31
2004	Apr 14
2005	Mar 20
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 9

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	185
1896	196
1897	191
1899	166
1900	207
1901	166
1903	169
1904	184
1905	177
1906	156
1907	175
1908	173
1909	180
1910	185
1912	187
1913	205
1914	197
1918	183
1919	189
1920	197
1921	177
1922	180
1923	184
1924	201
1925	137
1926	173
1927	175
1928	149
1929	221
1930	177
1933	213
1934	182
1935	170
1936	183
1937	185
1938	196
1939	183
1940	206
1941	211
1942	160
1943	184
1944	181
1945	172
1946	156
1947	180
1948	197
1949	190
1952	183
1953	192
1954	203
1955	199
1956	198
1957	193
1959	181
1962	190
1963	180
1964	180
1965	206
1966	162
1967	161
1968	151
1969	205
1970	191
1971	160
1972	175
1973	185
1974	166
1975	172
1976	153
1977	188
1978	154
1979	157
1980	148
1981	143
1982	176
1983	136
1984	169
1985	174
1986	200
1987	177
1988	158
1989	165
1991	172
1992	171
1993	170
1994	200
1995	170
1996	191
1997	179
1998	192
1999	191
2000	156
2001	170
2002	190
2003	184
2004	171
2005	221
2006	185
2007	197
2008	195

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1894	20.6 °C
1895	20.7 °C
1896	21.2 °C
1897	20.1 °C
1899	21.0 °C
1900	21.4 °C
1901	20.7 °C
1902	20.3 °C
1904	18.9 °C
1905	20.3 °C
1906	20.9 °C
1907	18.8 °C
1908	21.2 °C
1909	20.6 °C
1910	20.1 °C
1913	22.0 °C
1914	22.3 °C
1915	20.4 °C
1918	20.1 °C
1919	20.3 °C
1921	21.8 °C
1922	21.0 °C
1923	19.7 °C
1924	19.2 °C
1925	22.1 °C
1926	20.8 °C
1927	19.7 °C
1928	19.9 °C
1929	20.4 °C
1930	22.2 °C
1933	22.3 °C
1934	22.3 °C
1935	20.4 °C
1936	23.0 °C
1937	20.7 °C
1938	21.8 °C
1939	21.5 °C
1940	20.8 °C
1941	22.1 °C
1942	20.8 °C
1943	21.4 °C
1944	21.8 °C
1945	19.7 °C
1946	19.9 °C
1947	20.5 °C
1948	20.6 °C
1949	21.0 °C
1952	21.5 °C
1953	21.9 °C
1954	22.7 °C
1955	22.0 °C
1956	20.8 °C
1957	21.0 °C
1959	21.2 °C
1960	20.6 °C
1962	20.6 °C
1963	20.4 °C
1964	21.1 °C
1965	21.2 °C
1966	19.8 °C
1967	19.6 °C
1968	20.7 °C
1969	20.7 °C
1970	21.5 °C
1971	20.5 °C
1972	20.4 °C
1973	20.6 °C
1974	19.9 °C
1975	20.2 °C
1976	19.3 °C
1977	21.7 °C
1978	20.5 °C
1979	19.6 °C
1980	21.4 °C
1981	20.5 °C
1982	19.5 °C
1983	20.5 °C
1984	20.1 °C
1985	20.6 °C
1986	21.7 °C
1987	21.8 °C
1988	21.4 °C
1989	20.0 °C
1990	20.3 °C
1991	22.4 °C
1992	20.1 °C
1993	20.8 °C
1994	20.5 °C
1995	21.0 °C
1996	20.4 °C
1997	19.5 °C
1998	21.8 °C
1999	20.8 °C
2000	20.5 °C
2001	21.4 °C
2002	21.8 °C
2003	20.4 °C
2004	20.7 °C
2005	22.0 °C
2006	20.9 °C
2007	21.4 °C
2008	20.3 °C
2009	20.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Louisville'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 Flora 5 Nw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Flora Olney Newton Altamont Effingham Teutopolis