When to plant in Windsor, IL

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 25

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 12

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 21

1 year in 10 by Oct 9

Frost-free days

188

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Windsor · 0.6 km away · station 210 m, town 214 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Feb 28 – Mar 14	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 19
Sweet pepper	Feb 14 – Feb 28	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 24
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 11 – Feb 18	Mar 18 – Apr 1	Apr 27
Peas	—	Mar 18 – Apr 15	May 12
Bush beans	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 7
Carrot	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 25
Beet	—	Mar 26 – May 7	May 15
Potato	—	Mar 26 – Apr 16	Jun 4
Kale	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 7
Broccoli	Feb 4 – Feb 18	Mar 18 – Apr 8	May 17
Cucumber	Mar 28 – Apr 4	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 14
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 28 – Apr 4	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 9
Winter squash	Mar 28 – Apr 4	Apr 25 – May 9	Jul 14
Sweet corn	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 17
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 18 – Apr 8	Jun 16
Garlic	—	Oct 7 – Nov 4 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 18 – Apr 15	Apr 25
Basil	Mar 14 – Mar 28	Apr 25 – May 9	Jun 21

Plan all 65 crops for Windsor

Windsor'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
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 7
1907	May 11
1908	May 2
1909	May 11
1910	May 14
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 19
1913	May 11
1914	Apr 20
1915	Apr 15
1916	Apr 28
1917	May 14
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 14
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 10
1924	Apr 19
1925	May 26
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 13
1929	May 2
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 12
1938	May 12
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 20
1950	Apr 21
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 20
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	Apr 24
1957	May 4
1958	May 7
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	Apr 17
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 1
1965	Apr 3
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 24
1968	Apr 27
1969	Apr 24
1970	Apr 7
1971	Apr 30
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 14
1974	Apr 9
1975	Apr 13
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 3
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 14
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 21
1983	May 9
1984	Apr 2
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 16
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Mar 31
1992	Apr 28
1994	Apr 7
1995	Apr 5
1996	Apr 14
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 5
1999	Mar 29
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 13
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 15
2009	Apr 12
2011	Apr 1
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 21
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 5
2016	Apr 10
2017	Apr 7
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 2
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 20
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 6
2025	Apr 12
2026	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1904	168
1905	172
1906	155
1907	153
1908	152
1909	139
1910	161
1911	173
1912	163
1913	162
1914	189
1915	173
1916	140
1917	139
1918	148
1919	173
1920	175
1921	172
1922	171
1923	148
1924	185
1925	136
1926	144
1927	172
1928	135
1929	173
1930	174
1931	212
1932	166
1933	180
1934	182
1935	170
1936	183
1937	184
1938	164
1939	170
1940	144
1941	211
1942	160
1943	168
1944	162
1945	172
1946	156
1947	182
1948	182
1949	187
1950	197
1951	179
1952	169
1953	191
1954	167
1955	199
1956	197
1957	159
1958	146
1960	160
1961	192
1962	186
1963	180
1965	208
1966	165
1967	184
1968	180
1969	175
1970	191
1971	187
1972	188
1973	202
1975	199
1976	160
1977	166
1978	166
1979	182
1980	173
1981	163
1982	182
1983	178
1984	213
1985	224
1986	201
1987	181
1988	172
1989	139
1990	183
1991	198
1992	171
1994	186
1995	170
1996	179
1997	186
1998	212
1999	208
2000	177
2001	180
2002	190
2003	171
2006	185
2007	199
2011	223
2012	201
2013	183
2014	197
2015	195
2016	215
2017	204
2018	170
2019	212
2020	159
2021	194
2022	180
2023	187
2024	193
2025	203

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1904	18.2 °C
1905	19.8 °C
1906	20.3 °C
1907	17.9 °C
1908	20.2 °C
1909	19.5 °C
1910	19.2 °C
1911	21.2 °C
1912	20.1 °C
1913	21.4 °C
1914	21.4 °C
1915	19.2 °C
1916	19.9 °C
1917	18.3 °C
1918	19.5 °C
1919	20.1 °C
1920	18.9 °C
1921	21.4 °C
1922	20.6 °C
1923	19.4 °C
1924	18.1 °C
1925	20.7 °C
1926	20.1 °C
1927	19.0 °C
1928	18.6 °C
1929	19.4 °C
1930	21.0 °C
1931	20.5 °C
1932	20.4 °C
1933	21.4 °C
1934	21.1 °C
1935	19.3 °C
1936	21.6 °C
1937	19.8 °C
1938	20.1 °C
1939	19.9 °C
1940	19.4 °C
1941	21.4 °C
1942	20.2 °C
1943	20.3 °C
1944	20.5 °C
1945	19.0 °C
1946	19.2 °C
1947	19.9 °C
1948	20.2 °C
1949	20.2 °C
1950	18.4 °C
1951	18.8 °C
1952	20.1 °C
1953	20.9 °C
1954	21.6 °C
1955	21.4 °C
1956	20.0 °C
1957	20.1 °C
1958	19.4 °C
1959	20.6 °C
1960	20.3 °C
1961	18.9 °C
1962	19.9 °C
1963	19.6 °C
1964	21.1 °C
1965	20.6 °C
1966	19.5 °C
1967	18.9 °C
1968	19.9 °C
1969	20.0 °C
1970	20.7 °C
1971	20.0 °C
1972	20.2 °C
1973	20.1 °C
1975	19.9 °C
1976	19.8 °C
1977	21.4 °C
1978	20.0 °C
1979	19.3 °C
1980	21.1 °C
1981	20.3 °C
1982	20.0 °C
1983	20.3 °C
1984	19.9 °C
1985	20.1 °C
1986	20.8 °C
1987	21.1 °C
1988	21.4 °C
1989	19.4 °C
1990	19.7 °C
1991	21.8 °C
1992	19.1 °C
1994	19.9 °C
1995	20.4 °C
1996	19.9 °C
1997	19.3 °C
1998	21.4 °C
1999	20.9 °C
2000	20.2 °C
2001	21.2 °C
2002	21.3 °C
2003	20.1 °C
2006	20.4 °C
2007	21.0 °C
2009	19.3 °C
2011	19.9 °C
2012	20.7 °C
2013	19.1 °C
2014	19.0 °C
2015	19.9 °C
2016	20.1 °C
2017	19.9 °C
2018	20.1 °C
2019	20.0 °C
2020	19.0 °C
2021	19.3 °C
2022	19.6 °C
2023	19.8 °C
2024	20.1 °C
2025	20.2 °C
2026	20.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1904, Windsor's last spring frost has come about 2 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 3 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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