When to plant in Saint Joseph, IL

Planting dates worked out from Saint Joseph'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 17

1 year in 10 by Oct 5

Frost-free days

182

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Champaign 3s · 17.2 km away · station 220 m, town 205 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Saint Joseph 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 14 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	Apr 30
Peas	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	May 15
Bush beans	—	Apr 21 – May 12	Jun 10
Carrot	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 29
Beet	—	Mar 30 – May 11	May 19
Potato	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 8
Kale	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Mar 28 – Apr 11	May 10
Broccoli	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 11	May 20
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 21 – Apr 11	Jun 19
Garlic	—	Oct 3 – Oct 31 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 21 – Apr 18	Apr 28
Basil	Mar 17 – Mar 31	Apr 28 – May 12	Jun 24

Plan all 65 crops for Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph'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
1903	May 2
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 7
1907	May 11
1908	Apr 16
1909	May 2
1910	Apr 26
1911	Apr 9
1912	Apr 19
1913	Apr 15
1914	Apr 21
1915	Apr 13
1916	Apr 10
1917	Apr 15
1918	Apr 21
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 10
1924	Apr 11
1925	May 25
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 2
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 6
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	May 4
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	Apr 19
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 16
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 17
1952	Apr 11
1953	Apr 20
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 30
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 10
1961	Apr 17
1962	Apr 20
1963	Apr 24
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 3
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 6
1969	Mar 31
1970	Apr 7
1971	Apr 6
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 24
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 15
1981	Apr 6
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 20
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 28
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 27
1997	Apr 18
1998	Mar 24
1999	Mar 28
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 7
2003	Apr 13
2004	Apr 14
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 13
2008	Apr 15
2009	Apr 12
2010	Apr 9
2011	Apr 5
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 21
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 24
2017	Mar 23
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 15
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 19
2023	Apr 24
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 12
2026	Apr 20

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1903	168
1904	168
1905	171
1906	155
1907	151
1908	194
1909	162
1910	179
1911	197
1912	187
1913	188
1914	188
1915	177
1916	158
1917	173
1918	194
1919	189
1920	196
1921	172
1922	179
1923	162
1924	193
1925	137
1926	171
1927	193
1928	150
1929	173
1930	174
1931	213
1932	166
1933	180
1934	182
1935	169
1936	183
1937	180
1938	196
1939	183
1940	186
1941	211
1942	160
1943	168
1944	183
1945	173
1946	167
1947	182
1948	183
1949	192
1950	197
1951	196
1952	174
1953	192
1954	178
1955	199
1956	197
1957	194
1958	186
1959	178
1960	191
1961	192
1962	186
1963	188
1964	183
1965	208
1966	172
1967	184
1968	202
1969	199
1970	207
1971	211
1972	191
1973	205
1974	160
1975	213
1976	167
1977	166
1978	175
1979	185
1980	172
1981	195
1982	182
1983	176
1984	205
1985	173
1986	174
1987	177
1988	168
1989	154
1990	175
1991	186
1992	171
1993	182
1994	199
1995	169
1996	166
1997	186
1998	211
1999	203
2000	176
2001	181
2002	189
2003	172
2004	171
2005	176
2006	184
2007	198
2008	195
2009	188
2010	195
2011	198
2012	176
2013	182
2014	195
2015	175
2017	219
2018	168
2019	179
2020	148
2021	192
2022	181
2023	188
2024	174
2025	203

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1903	18.6 °C
1904	17.8 °C
1905	19.2 °C
1906	19.5 °C
1907	16.9 °C
1908	19.0 °C
1909	18.2 °C
1910	18.4 °C
1911	19.9 °C
1912	19.0 °C
1913	20.2 °C
1914	19.9 °C
1915	18.2 °C
1916	19.0 °C
1917	17.2 °C
1918	18.2 °C
1919	19.5 °C
1920	18.2 °C
1921	20.6 °C
1922	20.0 °C
1923	18.7 °C
1924	17.6 °C
1925	20.3 °C
1926	18.7 °C
1927	18.2 °C
1928	17.9 °C
1929	18.5 °C
1930	20.3 °C
1931	20.2 °C
1932	19.8 °C
1933	20.8 °C
1934	20.9 °C
1935	18.5 °C
1936	20.9 °C
1937	19.3 °C
1938	19.8 °C
1939	19.8 °C
1940	19.0 °C
1941	20.6 °C
1942	19.6 °C
1943	19.5 °C
1944	20.2 °C
1945	18.4 °C
1946	18.9 °C
1947	19.3 °C
1948	20.0 °C
1949	19.9 °C
1950	18.4 °C
1951	18.4 °C
1952	20.1 °C
1953	20.1 °C
1954	20.9 °C
1955	20.9 °C
1956	19.1 °C
1957	19.4 °C
1958	18.9 °C
1959	20.7 °C
1960	19.6 °C
1961	18.6 °C
1962	19.5 °C
1963	19.4 °C
1964	20.2 °C
1965	19.6 °C
1966	18.6 °C
1967	18.3 °C
1968	19.2 °C
1969	19.7 °C
1970	20.0 °C
1971	19.6 °C
1972	19.3 °C
1973	19.6 °C
1974	18.5 °C
1975	19.0 °C
1976	18.8 °C
1977	20.6 °C
1978	19.4 °C
1979	18.8 °C
1980	19.9 °C
1981	19.1 °C
1982	18.8 °C
1983	19.8 °C
1984	18.8 °C
1985	19.5 °C
1986	19.9 °C
1987	20.4 °C
1988	20.4 °C
1989	18.6 °C
1990	18.8 °C
1991	21.0 °C
1992	18.0 °C
1993	18.8 °C
1994	18.9 °C
1995	19.5 °C
1996	18.4 °C
1997	18.0 °C
1998	20.4 °C
1999	19.7 °C
2000	19.1 °C
2001	19.9 °C
2002	20.1 °C
2003	18.9 °C
2004	19.1 °C
2005	20.6 °C
2006	19.7 °C
2007	20.6 °C
2008	18.9 °C
2009	18.9 °C
2010	21.0 °C
2011	20.1 °C
2012	20.8 °C
2013	19.4 °C
2014	19.0 °C
2015	19.9 °C
2017	20.0 °C
2018	20.4 °C
2019	20.2 °C
2020	19.2 °C
2021	19.9 °C
2022	19.8 °C
2023	20.0 °C
2024	20.4 °C
2025	20.5 °C
2026	20.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1903, Saint Joseph'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 Champaign 3s (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Sidney Homer Urbana Philo Champaign Thomasboro