When to plant in Petersburg, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 28

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 14

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 15

1 year in 10 by Oct 3

Frost-free days

180

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Springfield Abraham Lincoln Ca · 23.2 km away · station 180 m, town 156 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Petersburg plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 22
Sweet pepper	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 27
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 10 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 26
Peas	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	May 11
Bush beans	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 10
Carrot	—	Mar 25 – May 6	May 24
Beet	—	Mar 25 – May 6	May 14
Potato	—	Mar 25 – Apr 15	Jun 3
Kale	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 6
Broccoli	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 16
Cucumber	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 17
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 12
Winter squash	Mar 31 – Apr 7	Apr 28 – May 12	Jul 17
Sweet corn	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 20
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	Jun 15
Garlic	—	Oct 1 – Oct 29 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	Apr 24
Basil	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 24

Plan all 65 crops for Petersburg

Petersburg'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
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 15
1903	Apr 4
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 16
1906	Apr 1
1907	May 1
1908	Apr 16
1909	Apr 10
1910	Apr 24
1911	Apr 7
1912	Apr 3
1913	Mar 28
1914	Apr 10
1915	Apr 3
1916	Apr 9
1917	Apr 14
1918	Apr 10
1919	Apr 1
1920	Apr 13
1921	Apr 17
1922	Mar 31
1923	Apr 9
1924	Apr 2
1925	Apr 5
1926	Apr 19
1927	Apr 23
1928	Apr 15
1929	May 2
1930	Apr 2
1931	Apr 6
1932	Mar 31
1933	Mar 24
1934	Mar 31
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Mar 29
1938	Apr 9
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 29
1942	Mar 31
1943	Apr 15
1944	Apr 5
1945	Mar 8
1946	Apr 12
1947	Mar 30
1948	Apr 9
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 11
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 17
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 2
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 6
1970	Apr 5
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 12
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 6
1978	Mar 27
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 16
1981	Apr 6
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 12
1988	Apr 19
1989	Apr 19
1990	Apr 18
1991	Mar 30
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 17
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 14
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 5
1999	Mar 29
2000	Apr 22
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 11
2004	Apr 14
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 8
2007	Apr 13
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 12
2010	Apr 9
2011	Apr 21
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 15
2015	May 1
2016	Apr 9
2017	Mar 22
2018	Apr 20
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 19
2023	Apr 24
2024	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1901	196
1902	221
1903	202
1904	188
1905	178
1906	191
1907	179
1908	197
1909	184
1910	186
1911	207
1912	212
1913	206
1914	198
1915	224
1916	193
1917	177
1918	204
1919	214
1920	198
1921	206
1922	229
1923	203
1924	219
1925	187
1926	188
1927	195
1928	196
1929	173
1930	197
1931	213
1932	212
1933	214
1934	210
1935	170
1936	185
1937	198
1938	211
1939	200
1940	207
1941	212
1942	207
1943	184
1944	232
1945	239
1946	218
1947	222
1948	190
1949	188
1950	186
1951	191
1952	174
1953	190
1954	167
1955	193
1956	197
1957	187
1958	181
1959	178
1960	191
1961	191
1962	189
1963	183
1964	179
1965	204
1966	159
1967	179
1968	161
1969	193
1970	193
1971	209
1972	172
1973	203
1974	175
1975	196
1976	165
1977	189
1978	194
1979	182
1980	171
1981	195
1982	181
1983	176
1984	181
1985	179
1986	174
1987	178
1988	169
1989	184
1990	175
1991	190
1992	171
1993	175
1994	200
1995	170
1996	177
1997	182
1998	199
1999	189
2000	167
2001	170
2002	189
2003	170
2004	171
2005	174
2006	185
2007	197
2008	194
2009	188
2010	201
2011	163
2012	177
2013	183
2014	198
2015	168
2016	216
2017	220
2018	175
2019	179
2020	147
2021	193
2022	171
2023	188
2024	177

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1901	20.7 °C
1902	19.3 °C
1903	19.4 °C
1904	18.4 °C
1905	20.0 °C
1906	20.8 °C
1907	18.4 °C
1908	20.4 °C
1909	19.6 °C
1910	19.5 °C
1911	21.2 °C
1912	20.3 °C
1913	21.4 °C
1914	21.6 °C
1915	19.4 °C
1916	20.3 °C
1917	18.6 °C
1918	19.8 °C
1919	20.6 °C
1920	19.3 °C
1921	21.9 °C
1922	21.2 °C
1923	20.1 °C
1924	18.8 °C
1925	21.4 °C
1926	19.7 °C
1927	19.3 °C
1928	19.2 °C
1929	19.1 °C
1930	21.0 °C
1931	21.5 °C
1932	21.0 °C
1933	22.1 °C
1934	22.2 °C
1935	19.9 °C
1936	22.6 °C
1937	20.8 °C
1938	21.5 °C
1939	21.4 °C
1940	20.5 °C
1941	22.3 °C
1942	21.0 °C
1943	20.7 °C
1944	21.5 °C
1945	19.6 °C
1946	20.4 °C
1947	20.7 °C
1948	20.2 °C
1949	19.7 °C
1950	18.3 °C
1951	18.7 °C
1952	20.4 °C
1953	20.4 °C
1954	21.2 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	19.8 °C
1957	20.0 °C
1958	19.4 °C
1959	21.0 °C
1960	20.0 °C
1961	18.9 °C
1962	20.3 °C
1963	19.7 °C
1964	21.1 °C
1965	20.5 °C
1966	18.9 °C
1967	18.8 °C
1968	19.7 °C
1969	20.0 °C
1970	20.4 °C
1971	20.2 °C
1972	19.9 °C
1973	19.9 °C
1974	19.1 °C
1975	19.8 °C
1976	19.4 °C
1977	21.4 °C
1978	20.3 °C
1979	19.9 °C
1980	20.9 °C
1981	20.5 °C
1982	19.5 °C
1983	20.3 °C
1984	19.6 °C
1985	19.8 °C
1986	20.9 °C
1987	21.4 °C
1988	21.0 °C
1989	18.8 °C
1990	19.4 °C
1991	21.0 °C
1992	18.9 °C
1993	19.6 °C
1994	19.9 °C
1995	20.2 °C
1996	18.8 °C
1997	18.5 °C
1998	20.6 °C
1999	19.8 °C
2000	19.6 °C
2001	20.2 °C
2002	20.3 °C
2003	19.0 °C
2004	19.4 °C
2005	21.0 °C
2006	20.4 °C
2007	20.8 °C
2008	19.1 °C
2009	19.4 °C
2010	21.9 °C
2011	20.8 °C
2012	21.5 °C
2013	19.7 °C
2014	20.2 °C
2015	21.2 °C
2016	21.5 °C
2017	21.1 °C
2018	21.6 °C
2019	20.7 °C
2020	19.8 °C
2021	20.5 °C
2022	20.2 °C
2023	20.3 °C
2024	21.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1901, Petersburg's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has shrunk by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Athens Ashland Sherman Mason City Williamsville Springfield