When to plant in Winona, MN

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

Safe to plant out

May 3

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 20

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 12

1 year in 10 by Oct 1

Frost-free days

176

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Winona · 0.9 km away · station 199 m, town 203 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 8 – Mar 22	May 3 – May 17	Jun 27
Sweet pepper	Feb 22 – Mar 8	May 3 – May 17	Jul 2
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 24 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 10
Peas	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 25
Bush beans	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 15
Carrot	—	Apr 7 – May 19	Jun 6
Beet	—	Apr 7 – May 19	May 27
Potato	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 16
Kale	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 20
Broccoli	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 21	May 30
Cucumber	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jun 22
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jun 17
Winter squash	Apr 5 – Apr 12	May 3 – May 17	Jul 22
Sweet corn	—	Apr 26 – May 17	Jun 25
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 31 – Apr 21	Jun 29
Garlic	—	Sep 28 – Oct 26 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 31 – Apr 28	May 8
Basil	Mar 22 – Apr 5	May 3 – May 17	Jun 29

Plan all 65 crops for Winona

Winona'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 24
1894	Apr 10
1895	Apr 4
1896	Apr 10
1902	Apr 24
1903	May 6
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 22
1906	May 6
1908	May 4
1909	May 10
1910	May 5
1911	May 4
1912	Apr 19
1913	May 10
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 18
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 13
1919	May 2
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 28
1923	May 13
1924	Apr 22
1925	May 25
1926	Apr 28
1928	Apr 25
1929	Apr 13
1931	May 6
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 10
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 19
1940	May 1
1941	Apr 2
1942	Apr 11
1943	May 13
1944	Apr 17
1945	May 9
1946	May 11
1947	May 9
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 24
1950	Apr 28
1951	Apr 19
1952	Apr 16
1953	May 13
1954	May 4
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 1
1957	Apr 15
1958	Apr 30
1959	Apr 22
1960	Apr 19
1961	May 1
1962	Apr 29
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 16
1965	May 30
1966	May 11
1967	May 12
1968	May 6
1969	May 12
1970	Apr 22
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 17
1975	Apr 23
1977	Apr 9
1978	May 3
1979	May 4
1980	Apr 25
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 27
1987	Apr 6
1989	May 6
1990	Apr 17
1992	Apr 27
1993	Apr 21
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 22
1996	Apr 28
1997	Apr 17
1998	Apr 4
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 12
2001	Apr 18
2002	May 3
2003	Apr 10
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 15

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	153
1894	186
1895	186
1896	169
1902	141
1903	164
1904	167
1905	181
1906	156
1909	154
1910	170
1911	169
1912	162
1913	160
1914	187
1915	143
1916	136
1917	109
1918	130
1919	161
1920	139
1921	140
1922	163
1923	123
1924	160
1925	134
1926	149
1928	153
1929	157
1931	178
1932	160
1933	168
1934	183
1935	151
1936	161
1937	180
1938	184
1939	159
1940	188
1941	207
1942	166
1943	146
1944	186
1945	142
1946	153
1947	138
1948	168
1949	182
1950	189
1951	187
1952	171
1953	166
1954	155
1955	189
1956	141
1957	164
1958	153
1959	173
1960	181
1961	149
1962	177
1963	158
1964	175
1965	126
1966	158
1967	139
1968	150
1969	154
1970	170
1971	161
1972	157
1973	123
1975	142
1977	180
1978	157
1979	155
1980	162
1981	143
1982	175
1989	150
1990	183
1992	154
1993	163
1994	182
1995	176
1996	157
1997	187
1998	200
1999	190
2000	177
2001	171
2002	165
2003	174
2004	154
2005	176
2006	185
2007	190
2008	174

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	17.5 °C
1894	19.6 °C
1895	18.4 °C
1896	17.5 °C
1902	16.6 °C
1903	16.4 °C
1904	16.1 °C
1905	16.3 °C
1906	17.1 °C
1907	14.8 °C
1909	17.4 °C
1910	18.5 °C
1911	18.7 °C
1912	17.9 °C
1913	19.0 °C
1914	18.5 °C
1915	16.5 °C
1916	17.5 °C
1917	15.7 °C
1918	16.9 °C
1919	18.1 °C
1920	17.0 °C
1921	19.6 °C
1922	18.4 °C
1923	18.2 °C
1924	15.6 °C
1925	18.2 °C
1926	17.3 °C
1928	17.7 °C
1929	17.2 °C
1931	20.1 °C
1932	18.8 °C
1933	20.2 °C
1935	17.8 °C
1936	19.6 °C
1937	19.0 °C
1938	18.3 °C
1939	19.9 °C
1940	18.4 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	17.9 °C
1943	17.8 °C
1946	17.2 °C
1947	17.4 °C
1948	19.3 °C
1949	19.7 °C
1950	17.0 °C
1951	17.5 °C
1952	18.6 °C
1953	18.4 °C
1954	18.0 °C
1955	19.3 °C
1956	16.5 °C
1957	16.8 °C
1958	16.7 °C
1959	18.1 °C
1960	17.0 °C
1961	16.3 °C
1962	16.5 °C
1963	17.3 °C
1964	17.8 °C
1965	16.1 °C
1966	16.8 °C
1967	16.6 °C
1968	16.6 °C
1969	17.0 °C
1970	17.7 °C
1971	16.9 °C
1972	16.3 °C
1973	16.4 °C
1974	15.6 °C
1975	15.7 °C
1977	18.9 °C
1978	17.0 °C
1979	16.2 °C
1980	17.7 °C
1982	16.5 °C
1989	18.5 °C
1990	18.5 °C
1992	16.5 °C
1997	17.9 °C
1998	20.0 °C
2000	18.7 °C
2001	19.4 °C
2002	19.0 °C
2003	18.6 °C
2004	18.1 °C
2005	19.4 °C
2006	19.0 °C
2007	19.2 °C
2008	18.2 °C
2009	18.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Winona's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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