When to plant in Merrill, WI

Planting dates worked out from Merrill'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 17

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 29

1 year in 10 by Sep 19

Frost-free days

136

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Merrill · 1.7 km away · station 381 m, town 386 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Merrill 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 16 – Mar 23	Apr 20 – May 4	May 30
Peas	—	Apr 20 – May 18	Jun 14
Bush beans	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 10
Carrot	—	Apr 27 – Jun 8	Jun 26
Beet	—	Apr 27 – Jun 8	Jun 16
Potato	—	Apr 27 – May 18	Jul 6
Kale	Mar 16 – Mar 30	Apr 27 – May 11	Jun 9
Broccoli	Mar 9 – Mar 23	Apr 20 – May 11	Jun 19
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 20 – May 11	Jul 19
Garlic	—	Sep 15 – Oct 13 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 20 – May 18	May 28
Basil	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 24

Plan all 65 crops for Merrill

Merrill'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
1906	May 28
1907	May 21
1908	May 2
1910	May 25
1912	May 17
1913	Jun 8
1914	May 15
1915	May 27
1916	May 18
1917	May 28
1918	May 13
1919	May 18
1920	May 15
1921	Jun 4
1922	Apr 28
1923	Jun 29
1924	Jun 7
1925	May 26
1926	May 14
1927	May 15
1928	May 30
1929	May 20
1930	May 30
1931	May 23
1932	May 29
1934	Apr 28
1935	May 23
1936	May 14
1937	May 15
1938	May 12
1939	May 12
1940	May 17
1941	May 24
1942	May 16
1943	May 14
1944	May 10
1945	Jun 5
1946	May 17
1947	May 29
1949	May 28
1950	May 16
1952	May 29
1953	May 13
1954	May 26
1955	May 17
1956	Jun 2
1957	May 24
1958	May 23
1960	May 12
1961	May 30
1962	May 8
1963	May 23
1964	Jun 2
1965	May 29
1966	May 29
1967	May 23
1968	May 6
1969	May 18
1971	May 27
1972	Jun 10
1973	May 17
1975	May 16
1976	May 25
1977	Jun 9
1978	Jun 8
1979	May 26
1980	Jun 16
1981	May 20
1984	May 30
1985	Jun 12
1986	Jun 2
1987	May 8
1988	May 25
1989	May 12
1990	Jun 4
1991	May 4
1992	Jun 21
1993	Jun 1
1994	Jun 2
1995	May 6
1996	May 14
1997	May 21
1998	Apr 29
1999	May 9
2000	May 20
2001	May 12
2002	May 21
2003	May 21
2004	May 15
2005	May 13
2006	May 22
2007	May 17
2008	May 19
2009	May 17
2010	May 15
2011	May 27
2012	Apr 30
2013	May 24
2014	May 17
2015	May 20
2016	May 17
2017	May 8
2018	May 12
2019	May 13
2020	May 13
2021	May 29
2022	May 23
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 25
2025	May 24

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1906	124
1907	123
1908	148
1912	132
1913	105
1914	151
1915	94
1916	121
1917	104
1918	119
1919	141
1920	137
1921	120
1922	149
1923	75
1924	90
1925	121
1926	121
1927	130
1928	118
1929	120
1930	110
1931	138
1932	111
1935	109
1936	140
1937	124
1938	161
1939	134
1940	130
1941	124
1942	128
1944	141
1945	107
1946	108
1947	115
1949	109
1952	116
1953	122
1954	119
1955	117
1956	107
1957	124
1958	127
1960	143
1961	116
1963	112
1964	101
1965	119
1966	118
1967	109
1969	146
1971	119
1975	115
1976	68
1977	75
1978	108
1980	92
1981	122
1985	104
1986	96
1987	139
1988	130
1989	133
1990	119
1991	138
1992	93
1993	120
1994	121
1995	139
1996	141
1997	132
1998	146
1999	134
2000	126
2002	138
2003	130
2004	136
2005	146
2006	121
2007	120
2008	136
2009	135
2010	140
2011	126
2012	141
2013	114
2014	144
2015	132
2016	144
2017	160
2018	139
2019	151
2020	127
2021	140
2022	127
2023	165
2024	164
2025	136

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1906	15.9 °C
1907	13.0 °C
1908	17.0 °C
1910	15.8 °C
1912	15.4 °C
1913	16.4 °C
1914	15.9 °C
1915	14.6 °C
1916	15.8 °C
1917	13.9 °C
1918	14.4 °C
1919	15.6 °C
1920	14.8 °C
1921	17.9 °C
1922	16.4 °C
1924	13.4 °C
1925	16.1 °C
1926	14.5 °C
1927	14.4 °C
1928	14.6 °C
1929	15.0 °C
1930	16.2 °C
1931	17.1 °C
1932	15.6 °C
1933	17.6 °C
1935	15.0 °C
1936	16.3 °C
1937	16.6 °C
1938	15.9 °C
1939	15.7 °C
1940	15.0 °C
1941	16.6 °C
1942	15.5 °C
1943	15.3 °C
1944	16.0 °C
1945	14.3 °C
1946	14.8 °C
1947	14.4 °C
1949	16.0 °C
1950	13.3 °C
1951	14.3 °C
1952	15.3 °C
1953	15.1 °C
1954	14.6 °C
1955	16.7 °C
1956	14.5 °C
1957	15.2 °C
1958	14.6 °C
1959	16.1 °C
1960	15.5 °C
1961	14.4 °C
1962	14.0 °C
1963	15.9 °C
1964	15.9 °C
1965	14.6 °C
1966	14.9 °C
1967	14.3 °C
1971	14.5 °C
1973	15.1 °C
1975	14.9 °C
1976	14.0 °C
1977	15.1 °C
1978	14.3 °C
1979	13.3 °C
1980	14.3 °C
1981	13.8 °C
1985	14.4 °C
1986	15.0 °C
1987	15.7 °C
1988	16.0 °C
1989	14.2 °C
1990	14.5 °C
1991	15.5 °C
1992	13.0 °C
1993	13.2 °C
1994	14.5 °C
1995	14.7 °C
1996	13.5 °C
1997	13.6 °C
1998	16.4 °C
1999	15.6 °C
2000	14.6 °C
2001	15.3 °C
2002	15.1 °C
2003	14.8 °C
2004	13.9 °C
2005	16.1 °C
2006	15.5 °C
2007	16.1 °C
2008	14.7 °C
2009	14.3 °C
2010	16.1 °C
2011	15.0 °C
2012	16.5 °C
2013	14.4 °C
2014	14.2 °C
2015	15.6 °C
2016	16.1 °C
2017	15.3 °C
2018	15.8 °C
2019	14.9 °C
2020	15.1 °C
2021	15.9 °C
2022	15.1 °C
2023	15.6 °C
2024	16.0 °C
2025	15.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1906, Merrill'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 Merrill (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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