When to plant in Johnson Creek, WI

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

Safe to plant out

May 8

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 14

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

170

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Lake Mills Wwtp · 10.0 km away · station 247 m, town 253 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Johnson Creek plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 13 – Mar 27	May 8 – May 22	Jul 2
Sweet pepper	Feb 27 – Mar 13	May 8 – May 22	Jul 7
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 2 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 16
Peas	—	Apr 6 – May 4	May 31
Bush beans	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 20
Carrot	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 14
Beet	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 4
Potato	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 24
Kale	Mar 2 – Mar 16	Apr 13 – Apr 27	May 26
Broccoli	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 5
Cucumber	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 27
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jun 22
Winter squash	Apr 10 – Apr 17	May 8 – May 22	Jul 27
Sweet corn	—	May 1 – May 22	Jun 30
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jul 5
Garlic	—	Sep 30 – Oct 28 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 6 – May 4	May 14
Basil	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 8 – May 22	Jul 4

Plan all 65 crops for Johnson Creek

Johnson Creek'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	May 7
1894	Jun 6
1895	May 21
1897	May 31
1898	May 6
1899	Apr 22
1900	May 5
1901	Apr 21
1905	May 1
1906	May 28
1907	May 27
1908	May 4
1909	May 10
1910	May 14
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 30
1913	May 11
1914	Apr 21
1916	Apr 15
1917	May 10
1919	Apr 26
1921	May 15
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	May 20
1925	May 26
1926	May 4
1927	Apr 30
1928	May 12
1929	Jun 3
1930	May 25
1931	May 3
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	May 27
1935	May 6
1936	May 14
1937	Apr 16
1938	May 12
1939	May 2
1940	May 4
1941	May 10
1942	May 10
1943	May 9
1944	May 6
1945	Jun 4
1946	May 7
1947	May 29
1948	May 8
1949	May 28
1950	May 8
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 15
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 7
1955	Apr 7
1956	May 8
1957	May 16
1958	May 5
1959	Apr 21
1960	Apr 18
1961	May 1
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 24
1965	Apr 10
1966	May 10
1967	May 12
1968	May 6
1969	May 26
1970	May 7
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 5
1974	May 10
1976	May 7
1977	May 10
1978	May 6
1979	May 1
1980	Apr 28
1981	May 7
1982	Apr 28
1983	May 15
1984	Apr 23
1985	Apr 10
1986	May 3
1987	Apr 8
1988	May 25
1989	May 7
1990	May 10
1991	Apr 20
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 26
1994	May 6
2005	May 4
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 16
2008	May 1
2009	Apr 22
2010	Apr 19
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 27
2013	Apr 21
2014	Apr 24
2015	Apr 26
2016	May 15
2017	May 8
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 13
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 28
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 16

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	139
1894	110
1895	131
1897	130
1898	161
1899	156
1900	164
1901	162
1905	162
1906	134
1908	147
1909	154
1910	161
1911	173
1912	151
1913	134
1916	153
1917	143
1919	167
1921	145
1922	166
1923	127
1924	154
1925	133
1926	144
1927	162
1928	134
1929	122
1930	144
1931	181
1932	161
1933	168
1934	153
1935	150
1936	160
1937	174
1938	179
1939	150
1940	164
1941	169
1942	137
1943	159
1944	157
1945	116
1946	146
1947	118
1948	147
1949	123
1950	138
1951	155
1952	170
1953	162
1954	164
1955	197
1956	154
1957	134
1958	180
1959	182
1960	184
1961	153
1962	186
1963	184
1964	156
1965	177
1966	162
1967	152
1968	151
1969	140
1970	161
1971	181
1972	165
1973	181
1974	134
1976	137
1978	154
1979	158
1980	159
1981	147
1982	171
1983	131
1984	155
1985	178
1986	155
1987	177
1988	132
1989	138
1990	152
1991	155
1992	163
1993	156
1994	173
2005	175
2006	184
2007	194
2008	155
2009	170
2010	167
2011	150
2012	163
2013	181
2014	169
2015	173
2016	180
2017	173
2018	166
2019	179
2020	144
2021	165
2022	169
2023	172
2024	173
2025	190

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	16.2 °C
1894	17.2 °C
1895	17.6 °C
1897	17.3 °C
1898	17.2 °C
1899	17.2 °C
1900	18.3 °C
1901	17.7 °C
1905	16.6 °C
1906	17.4 °C
1908	16.9 °C
1909	15.8 °C
1910	16.8 °C
1911	18.1 °C
1912	16.6 °C
1913	17.0 °C
1915	15.5 °C
1916	16.7 °C
1917	15.2 °C
1918	16.2 °C
1919	17.6 °C
1921	19.4 °C
1922	16.5 °C
1923	16.8 °C
1924	14.8 °C
1925	16.7 °C
1926	15.9 °C
1927	16.1 °C
1928	16.6 °C
1929	16.7 °C
1931	18.2 °C
1932	17.2 °C
1933	17.9 °C
1934	17.5 °C
1935	16.9 °C
1936	18.2 °C
1937	17.5 °C
1938	17.1 °C
1939	18.2 °C
1940	16.6 °C
1941	18.6 °C
1942	17.4 °C
1943	17.3 °C
1944	17.6 °C
1945	15.8 °C
1946	16.8 °C
1947	16.5 °C
1948	17.5 °C
1949	17.2 °C
1950	15.3 °C
1951	16.5 °C
1952	18.0 °C
1953	17.8 °C
1954	17.6 °C
1955	19.2 °C
1956	17.2 °C
1957	17.3 °C
1958	16.8 °C
1959	18.2 °C
1960	17.2 °C
1961	16.7 °C
1962	17.2 °C
1963	17.4 °C
1964	17.9 °C
1965	16.8 °C
1966	16.3 °C
1967	16.1 °C
1968	17.9 °C
1969	17.1 °C
1970	17.7 °C
1971	17.7 °C
1972	16.8 °C
1973	17.4 °C
1974	16.2 °C
1976	17.8 °C
1977	18.3 °C
1978	17.0 °C
1979	16.7 °C
1980	17.2 °C
1981	17.4 °C
1982	16.7 °C
1983	17.4 °C
1984	17.5 °C
1985	18.1 °C
1986	17.9 °C
1987	18.9 °C
1988	19.5 °C
1989	17.0 °C
1990	17.6 °C
1991	18.7 °C
1992	16.6 °C
1993	17.4 °C
1994	18.3 °C
2005	18.5 °C
2006	17.6 °C
2007	17.8 °C
2008	17.1 °C
2009	16.7 °C
2010	18.6 °C
2011	17.5 °C
2012	18.8 °C
2013	17.1 °C
2014	16.8 °C
2015	17.9 °C
2016	18.3 °C
2017	17.7 °C
2018	17.8 °C
2019	17.6 °C
2020	17.6 °C
2021	18.6 °C
2022	17.4 °C
2023	18.2 °C
2024	18.2 °C
2025	17.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Johnson Creek's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Milford Aztalan Jefferson Lake Mills Watertown Concord