When to plant in Saint Elmo, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 22

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 13

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 20

1 year in 10 by Oct 6

Frost-free days

190

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Effingham 3sw · 21.8 km away · station 190 m, town 189 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Saint Elmo plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 16
Sweet pepper	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 21
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 10 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 26
Peas	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	May 11
Bush beans	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 4
Carrot	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 25
Beet	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 15
Potato	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	Jun 4
Kale	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 6
Broccoli	Feb 3 – Feb 17	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 16
Cucumber	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 11
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 6
Winter squash	Mar 25 – Apr 1	Apr 22 – May 6	Jul 11
Sweet corn	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 14
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	Jun 15
Garlic	—	Oct 6 – Nov 3 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 17 – Apr 14	Apr 24
Basil	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 18

Plan all 65 crops for Saint Elmo

Saint Elmo'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
1895	May 13
1897	May 1
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 9
1900	Apr 14
1901	Apr 20
1902	Apr 15
1903	May 1
1912	Apr 19
1913	Apr 14
1914	Apr 13
1915	Apr 13
1916	Apr 24
1917	May 14
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 1
1923	Apr 18
1924	Apr 23
1925	May 25
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 28
1929	Apr 1
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 23
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	May 4
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 12
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 7
1945	May 11
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 3
1949	Apr 19
1950	Apr 21
1952	Apr 17
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1958	Apr 12
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 16
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 2
1967	May 3
1968	May 6
1969	Apr 30
1970	Apr 7
1971	Apr 8
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 7
1978	May 6
1979	Apr 10
1980	May 9
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1988	Mar 30
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 6
1999	Mar 28
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 13
2004	Apr 15
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 13
2010	Apr 10
2011	Apr 21
2012	Apr 13
2013	Apr 21
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Mar 23
2018	Apr 18
2019	Apr 16

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	185
1898	198
1899	172
1900	207
1901	165
1902	196
1912	163
1913	189
1914	196
1915	175
1919	189
1920	202
1921	177
1922	199
1923	184
1924	181
1925	137
1926	171
1927	171
1928	148
1929	203
1930	175
1931	177
1932	166
1933	180
1934	182
1935	170
1936	183
1937	185
1938	196
1939	170
1940	144
1941	211
1942	168
1943	177
1944	162
1945	150
1946	156
1947	180
1948	196
1949	163
1950	186
1952	168
1953	191
1954	166
1955	193
1958	171
1960	192
1961	193
1962	190
1963	181
1964	180
1965	205
1967	161
1968	150
1969	169
1970	192
1971	186
1972	192
1973	204
1975	172
1976	154
1977	188
1978	154
1979	182
1980	148
1981	143
1982	181
1983	179
1984	214
1985	174
1986	200
1991	198
1992	171
1993	188
1994	201
1995	201
1999	190
2000	176
2001	170
2002	190
2003	171
2004	170
2006	184
2007	197
2008	194
2009	187
2010	201
2011	182
2012	177
2013	183
2014	195
2015	195
2016	216
2017	219
2018	185
2019	198

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	20.2 °C
1898	20.8 °C
1899	21.1 °C
1900	21.4 °C
1901	21.2 °C
1912	19.9 °C
1913	21.0 °C
1914	21.1 °C
1915	19.1 °C
1916	19.8 °C
1917	18.2 °C
1918	19.4 °C
1919	20.9 °C
1920	19.2 °C
1921	22.3 °C
1922	21.5 °C
1923	20.1 °C
1924	19.1 °C
1925	21.6 °C
1926	20.6 °C
1927	20.1 °C
1928	19.0 °C
1929	19.7 °C
1930	21.3 °C
1931	21.0 °C
1932	20.1 °C
1933	21.8 °C
1934	21.9 °C
1935	19.3 °C
1936	22.5 °C
1937	20.6 °C
1938	20.7 °C
1939	20.8 °C
1940	19.8 °C
1941	21.0 °C
1942	19.8 °C
1943	19.8 °C
1944	20.2 °C
1945	18.6 °C
1946	18.9 °C
1947	19.6 °C
1948	19.9 °C
1949	19.6 °C
1950	18.2 °C
1952	20.4 °C
1953	20.1 °C
1954	22.3 °C
1955	21.7 °C
1958	19.4 °C
1960	21.1 °C
1961	19.9 °C
1962	21.3 °C
1963	20.9 °C
1964	21.7 °C
1965	20.9 °C
1967	19.4 °C
1968	20.4 °C
1969	20.8 °C
1970	21.2 °C
1971	20.9 °C
1972	20.5 °C
1973	20.6 °C
1975	18.9 °C
1976	18.3 °C
1977	20.7 °C
1978	19.4 °C
1979	18.5 °C
1980	19.5 °C
1981	19.0 °C
1982	18.8 °C
1983	19.8 °C
1984	19.2 °C
1985	19.9 °C
1986	20.8 °C
1987	21.1 °C
1988	21.1 °C
1991	21.6 °C
1992	18.9 °C
1993	19.8 °C
1994	19.4 °C
1995	20.1 °C
1999	20.2 °C
2000	19.5 °C
2001	20.5 °C
2002	21.0 °C
2003	19.6 °C
2004	19.9 °C
2005	21.2 °C
2006	20.1 °C
2007	20.8 °C
2008	19.4 °C
2009	19.5 °C
2010	21.8 °C
2011	20.6 °C
2012	21.2 °C
2013	19.9 °C
2014	19.8 °C
2015	20.7 °C
2016	21.6 °C
2017	21.1 °C
2018	21.4 °C
2019	21.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1895, Saint Elmo's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Effingham 3sw (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Altamont Vandalia Ramsey Effingham Teutopolis Louisville