When to plant in Independence, WI

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

Safe to plant out

May 28

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 16

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 28

1 year in 10 by Sep 20

Frost-free days

135

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Blair · 16.8 km away · station 261 m, town 238 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Independence plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 22
Sweet pepper	Mar 19 – Apr 2	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 27
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 14 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	May 28
Peas	—	Apr 10 – May 8	Jun 4
Bush beans	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 10
Carrot	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 24
Beet	—	Apr 21 – Jun 2	Jun 10
Potato	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jul 4
Kale	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	May 31
Broccoli	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 17
Cucumber	Apr 30 – May 7	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 17
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 30 – May 7	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 12
Winter squash	Apr 30 – May 7	May 28 – Jun 11	Aug 16
Sweet corn	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 20
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jul 17
Garlic	—	Sep 14 – Oct 12 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 10 – May 8	May 18
Basil	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 24

Plan all 65 crops for Independence

Independence'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
1925	May 26
1926	May 11
1927	May 16
1929	May 20
1930	May 30
1931	May 23
1932	May 28
1933	May 10
1934	May 25
1935	May 17
1936	Apr 27
1937	Jun 8
1938	May 11
1939	May 13
1940	May 17
1941	May 24
1942	May 16
1943	May 19
1944	May 6
1945	Jun 4
1946	Jun 3
1947	May 10
1948	May 8
1949	May 28
1950	May 2
1951	May 11
1952	May 29
1953	May 13
1954	May 20
1955	May 8
1956	May 16
1957	May 16
1958	May 21
1959	May 15
1960	May 13
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 23
1963	May 23
1964	Jun 1
1965	May 29
1966	May 31
1967	May 22
1968	May 10
1969	May 12
1970	May 17
1971	May 28
1972	Jun 10
1973	May 17
1974	May 13
1975	May 16
1976	May 18
1977	May 10
1978	May 14
1979	May 25
1980	May 12
1981	May 19
1982	May 1
1983	May 26
1984	May 29
1985	May 2
1986	May 21
1987	May 5
1988	Jun 9
1989	May 12
1990	May 11
1991	May 3
1992	Jun 21
1993	Jun 1
1994	May 27
1995	May 6
1996	May 13
1997	May 21
1998	Apr 29
1999	May 9
2000	May 20
2001	Apr 24
2002	May 21
2003	May 21
2004	May 15
2005	May 4
2006	May 22
2008	May 19
2009	May 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1925	131
1926	136
1929	120
1930	120
1931	98
1932	117
1933	139
1934	95
1935	115
1936	157
1937	99
1938	161
1939	135
1940	131
1941	127
1942	131
1943	114
1944	145
1945	116
1946	113
1947	134
1948	146
1949	118
1950	144
1951	139
1952	116
1953	122
1954	139
1955	125
1956	126
1957	133
1958	132
1962	149
1963	112
1964	118
1965	120
1966	117
1967	124
1968	123
1969	119
1970	133
1971	118
1972	103
1973	125
1974	112
1975	119
1976	114
1977	144
1978	146
1979	119
1980	127
1981	131
1982	142
1983	119
1984	109
1985	145
1986	108
1987	150
1988	88
1989	133
1990	151
1991	138
1992	93
1993	120
1994	135
1995	138
1996	142
1997	145
1998	154
1999	134
2000	126
2001	153
2002	124
2003	130
2004	136
2005	164
2006	120
2008	135

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1925	16.4 °C
1926	15.0 °C
1929	15.1 °C
1930	17.0 °C
1931	16.9 °C
1932	16.5 °C
1933	17.2 °C
1934	17.1 °C
1935	15.6 °C
1936	17.5 °C
1937	17.1 °C
1938	16.4 °C
1939	16.9 °C
1940	16.0 °C
1941	18.1 °C
1942	15.9 °C
1943	15.9 °C
1944	17.1 °C
1945	15.5 °C
1946	16.3 °C
1947	16.1 °C
1948	18.1 °C
1949	17.6 °C
1950	15.1 °C
1951	15.5 °C
1952	16.7 °C
1953	16.4 °C
1954	16.7 °C
1955	18.7 °C
1956	16.3 °C
1957	17.0 °C
1958	16.4 °C
1959	17.9 °C
1960	16.7 °C
1961	16.0 °C
1962	16.3 °C
1963	16.8 °C
1964	17.7 °C
1965	16.2 °C
1966	15.9 °C
1967	15.3 °C
1968	16.1 °C
1969	15.8 °C
1970	16.4 °C
1971	15.7 °C
1972	15.6 °C
1973	15.6 °C
1974	14.7 °C
1975	15.2 °C
1976	15.9 °C
1977	17.1 °C
1978	16.1 °C
1979	14.9 °C
1980	16.1 °C
1981	15.6 °C
1982	15.1 °C
1983	15.8 °C
1984	15.8 °C
1985	16.1 °C
1986	16.2 °C
1987	17.2 °C
1988	17.4 °C
1989	15.5 °C
1990	15.9 °C
1991	16.8 °C
1992	14.2 °C
1993	14.6 °C
1994	15.9 °C
1995	16.3 °C
1996	14.9 °C
1997	15.2 °C
1998	17.1 °C
1999	16.4 °C
2000	15.6 °C
2001	17.3 °C
2002	16.0 °C
2003	15.7 °C
2004	15.6 °C
2005	17.1 °C
2006	16.8 °C
2008	15.7 °C

What this means for you: Since 1925, Independence'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 Blair (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Whitehall Arcadia Blair Strum Osseo Mondovi