When to plant in Walnut, IL

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

Safe to plant out

May 12

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 24

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Sep 29

Frost-free days

168

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Walnut · 0.7 km away · station 213 m, town 215 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Walnut plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 17 – Mar 31	May 12 – May 26	Jul 6
Sweet pepper	Mar 3 – Mar 17	May 12 – May 26	Jul 11
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 23 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 13	May 9
Peas	—	Mar 30 – Apr 27	May 24
Bush beans	—	May 5 – May 26	Jun 24
Carrot	—	Apr 7 – May 19	Jun 6
Beet	—	Apr 7 – May 19	May 27
Potato	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 16
Kale	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 19
Broccoli	Feb 16 – Mar 2	Mar 30 – Apr 20	May 29
Cucumber	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 1
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jun 26
Winter squash	Apr 14 – Apr 21	May 12 – May 26	Jul 31
Sweet corn	—	May 5 – May 26	Jul 4
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 30 – Apr 20	Jun 28
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 30 – Apr 27	May 7
Basil	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 12 – May 26	Jul 8

Plan all 65 crops for Walnut

Walnut'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 23
1894	Apr 13
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 8
1897	May 1
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 16
1900	Apr 12
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 24
1903	May 1
1904	Apr 27
1905	Apr 18
1906	Apr 23
1907	May 11
1908	May 2
1909	May 10
1910	May 5
1911	May 2
1912	Apr 20
1913	May 11
1914	Apr 20
1915	Apr 4
1916	May 2
1917	May 7
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	Apr 12
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 26
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 12
1929	May 19
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 24
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	May 12
1939	May 2
1940	May 4
1941	Apr 2
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 1
1944	May 5
1945	May 10
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	Apr 30
1957	May 4
1958	May 6
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 15
1965	May 28
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 25
1968	Apr 25
1969	Apr 29
1970	Apr 10
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 28
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 21
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 2
1979	Apr 10
1980	May 9
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 27
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 24
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 3
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 28
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 11
1992	May 27
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 22
1995	Apr 25
1996	Apr 27
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 17
1999	Mar 29
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 18
2002	May 20
2003	Apr 12
2004	May 2
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 25
2009	Apr 14
2010	Apr 7
2011	May 3
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 7
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 20
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 16
2026	May 2

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	174
1894	178
1895	138
1896	164
1897	180
1898	189
1899	166
1900	206
1901	165
1902	172
1903	169
1904	162
1905	176
1906	169
1907	154
1908	149
1909	154
1910	176
1911	174
1912	185
1913	133
1914	187
1915	186
1916	138
1917	151
1918	141
1920	139
1921	140
1922	170
1923	127
1924	192
1925	136
1926	152
1927	172
1928	135
1929	156
1930	173
1931	193
1932	166
1933	168
1934	183
1935	152
1936	182
1937	174
1938	164
1939	151
1940	164
1941	208
1942	157
1943	166
1944	159
1945	145
1946	198
1947	143
1948	182
1949	157
1950	176
1951	157
1952	169
1953	162
1954	164
1955	194
1956	142
1957	166
1958	147
1960	160
1961	148
1962	185
1963	180
1964	173
1965	148
1966	144
1967	156
1968	161
1969	167
1970	182
1971	183
1972	156
1973	184
1974	138
1975	157
1976	155
1977	166
1978	158
1979	185
1981	169
1983	135
1984	153
1985	173
1986	164
1987	176
1988	159
1990	175
1991	161
1992	142
1993	160
1994	170
1995	150
1996	166
1997	150
1998	179
1999	198
2000	175
2001	158
2002	145
2003	171
2004	154
2005	164
2006	168
2009	177
2010	178
2011	169
2013	184
2014	174
2015	175
2016	209
2017	204
2018	165
2019	166
2020	158
2021	183
2022	170
2023	186
2024	172
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	19.4 °C
1894	20.8 °C
1895	20.4 °C
1896	20.0 °C
1898	19.3 °C
1899	19.5 °C
1900	20.3 °C
1901	19.9 °C
1902	18.4 °C
1903	18.5 °C
1904	17.7 °C
1905	19.1 °C
1906	20.0 °C
1907	17.0 °C
1908	19.6 °C
1909	18.9 °C
1910	19.2 °C
1911	20.0 °C
1912	18.9 °C
1913	19.6 °C
1914	19.6 °C
1915	17.8 °C
1916	19.0 °C
1917	17.4 °C
1918	18.3 °C
1922	19.6 °C
1923	19.1 °C
1924	17.1 °C
1925	19.7 °C
1926	17.8 °C
1927	17.9 °C
1928	18.0 °C
1929	18.4 °C
1930	20.0 °C
1931	20.2 °C
1932	19.4 °C
1933	20.3 °C
1934	20.7 °C
1935	18.3 °C
1936	20.5 °C
1937	19.4 °C
1938	19.5 °C
1939	19.7 °C
1940	18.7 °C
1941	20.4 °C
1942	19.3 °C
1943	18.9 °C
1944	19.8 °C
1945	18.1 °C
1946	19.0 °C
1947	19.1 °C
1948	19.6 °C
1949	19.5 °C
1950	17.8 °C
1951	18.2 °C
1952	20.0 °C
1953	19.7 °C
1954	19.9 °C
1955	21.1 °C
1956	19.4 °C
1957	19.4 °C
1958	18.7 °C
1959	20.5 °C
1961	17.9 °C
1962	18.6 °C
1963	18.9 °C
1964	19.4 °C
1965	18.4 °C
1966	18.1 °C
1967	17.5 °C
1968	18.8 °C
1969	18.8 °C
1970	19.4 °C
1971	19.0 °C
1972	18.5 °C
1973	18.8 °C
1974	18.2 °C
1975	18.3 °C
1976	18.4 °C
1977	20.0 °C
1978	19.0 °C
1979	18.4 °C
1981	18.2 °C
1983	18.7 °C
1984	17.9 °C
1985	18.8 °C
1986	18.9 °C
1987	19.7 °C
1988	19.8 °C
1990	18.1 °C
1991	19.7 °C
1992	16.8 °C
1993	17.5 °C
1994	18.1 °C
1995	18.4 °C
1996	16.9 °C
1997	17.1 °C
1998	19.3 °C
1999	18.7 °C
2000	18.2 °C
2001	18.6 °C
2002	18.5 °C
2003	17.6 °C
2004	17.9 °C
2005	19.5 °C
2006	18.5 °C
2008	18.0 °C
2009	17.5 °C
2010	20.1 °C
2011	18.7 °C
2012	19.6 °C
2013	18.1 °C
2014	17.8 °C
2015	18.7 °C
2016	18.9 °C
2017	18.3 °C
2018	19.0 °C
2019	18.8 °C
2020	18.5 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2022	18.5 °C
2023	19.0 °C
2024	19.5 °C
2025	19.4 °C

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

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