When to plant in Olney, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 21

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 19

1 year in 10 by Oct 8

Frost-free days

191

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Olney 2s · 3.4 km away · station 140 m, town 146 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	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 15
Sweet pepper	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 7 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 23
Peas	—	Mar 14 – Apr 11	May 8
Bush beans	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 3
Carrot	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 22
Beet	—	Mar 23 – May 4	May 12
Potato	—	Mar 23 – Apr 13	Jun 1
Kale	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 3
Broccoli	Jan 31 – Feb 14	Mar 14 – Apr 4	May 13
Cucumber	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 5
Winter squash	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jul 10
Sweet corn	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 13
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 14 – Apr 4	Jun 12
Garlic	—	Oct 5 – Nov 2 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 14 – Apr 11	Apr 21
Basil	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 17

Plan all 65 crops for Olney

Olney'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	Apr 20
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 9
1900	Apr 14
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 8
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 19
1906	Apr 2
1907	May 11
1908	Apr 12
1909	Apr 10
1910	Apr 25
1911	Apr 9
1912	Apr 8
1913	Mar 29
1914	Apr 12
1915	Apr 13
1916	Apr 10
1917	Apr 15
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 1
1923	Apr 18
1924	Apr 2
1925	Apr 1
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	Mar 18
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 21
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 7
1945	Apr 19
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	Mar 28
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 17
1953	Apr 20
1958	Apr 12
1959	Apr 14
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 16
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1966	May 10
1967	May 3
1968	Apr 15
1969	Apr 30
1970	Apr 7
1971	May 4
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 17
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 9
1977	Apr 6
1978	May 2
1979	Apr 10
1980	May 9
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 23
1983	Apr 25
1984	Apr 19
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1988	Apr 29
1989	Apr 13
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 10
1997	Apr 18
1998	Mar 25
1999	Mar 28
2000	Apr 9
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 1
2004	Apr 5
2005	Mar 20
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 10
2010	Mar 31
2011	Apr 2
2012	Apr 13
2013	Apr 21
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 13
2018	Apr 18
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 20
2023	Apr 25
2024	Apr 7
2025	Apr 9
2026	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	191
1898	198
1899	173
1900	207
1901	179
1902	203
1903	169
1904	187
1905	175
1906	190
1907	153
1908	180
1909	184
1910	185
1911	197
1913	205
1914	197
1915	213
1916	172
1917	173
1918	183
1919	189
1921	177
1922	199
1923	185
1924	202
1925	191
1926	169
1927	172
1928	148
1929	220
1930	175
1931	193
1932	161
1933	193
1934	182
1935	170
1936	183
1937	180
1938	196
1939	183
1940	199
1941	211
1942	168
1943	178
1944	162
1945	172
1946	198
1947	182
1948	203
1950	197
1951	192
1952	168
1953	192
1958	200
1959	186
1960	192
1961	181
1962	186
1963	152
1964	180
1966	162
1967	161
1968	171
1969	169
1970	179
1971	160
1972	192
1973	185
1974	168
1975	172
1976	153
1977	189
1978	158
1979	182
1980	148
1981	143
1982	180
1983	150
1984	164
1985	174
1988	159
1989	188
1991	189
1992	173
1994	199
1995	192
1996	191
1997	179
1998	211
1999	203
2000	181
2001	190
2002	190
2003	183
2004	194
2005	221
2006	184
2007	197
2008	194
2009	190
2010	204
2011	202
2012	177
2013	183
2014	195
2015	195
2018	185
2019	211
2020	147
2021	194
2022	171
2023	188
2024	191
2025	206

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	20.5 °C
1898	21.1 °C
1899	21.4 °C
1900	22.0 °C
1901	21.7 °C
1902	20.9 °C
1903	20.9 °C
1904	19.9 °C
1905	20.7 °C
1906	21.5 °C
1907	19.0 °C
1908	21.7 °C
1909	20.9 °C
1910	20.3 °C
1911	21.8 °C
1913	21.2 °C
1915	19.7 °C
1916	20.0 °C
1917	18.9 °C
1918	19.5 °C
1919	20.9 °C
1921	22.4 °C
1922	22.0 °C
1923	20.6 °C
1924	19.6 °C
1925	22.1 °C
1926	21.1 °C
1927	20.3 °C
1928	19.8 °C
1929	20.6 °C
1930	22.0 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	21.2 °C
1933	22.0 °C
1934	21.4 °C
1935	20.0 °C
1936	22.7 °C
1937	20.7 °C
1938	21.2 °C
1939	21.2 °C
1940	20.6 °C
1941	22.1 °C
1942	21.2 °C
1943	21.4 °C
1944	22.0 °C
1945	20.1 °C
1946	20.5 °C
1947	20.8 °C
1948	21.0 °C
1950	19.8 °C
1951	20.0 °C
1952	21.4 °C
1953	21.8 °C
1958	20.6 °C
1959	22.1 °C
1960	21.4 °C
1961	20.1 °C
1962	20.7 °C
1963	19.9 °C
1964	21.2 °C
1966	20.0 °C
1967	19.5 °C
1968	20.4 °C
1969	20.4 °C
1970	21.4 °C
1971	20.3 °C
1972	20.6 °C
1973	20.8 °C
1974	20.1 °C
1975	20.6 °C
1976	19.6 °C
1977	21.9 °C
1978	21.2 °C
1979	19.9 °C
1980	21.5 °C
1981	20.9 °C
1988	21.2 °C
1989	19.9 °C
1991	22.4 °C
1992	20.0 °C
1994	20.2 °C
1995	20.9 °C
1996	20.4 °C
1997	19.7 °C
1998	21.4 °C
1999	20.6 °C
2000	20.2 °C
2001	20.9 °C
2002	21.2 °C
2003	19.7 °C
2004	20.4 °C
2005	21.0 °C
2006	20.9 °C
2007	21.0 °C
2008	19.8 °C
2009	19.8 °C
2010	21.9 °C
2011	20.8 °C
2012	21.5 °C
2013	19.9 °C
2014	19.7 °C
2018	21.1 °C
2019	20.8 °C
2020	19.6 °C
2021	20.4 °C
2022	20.6 °C
2023	20.2 °C
2024	21.1 °C
2025	21.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Olney'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 Olney 2s (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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