When to plant in Monticello, WI

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

Safe to plant out

May 15

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 1

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 9

1 year in 10 by Sep 29

Frost-free days

159

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Brodhead Wwtp · 22.1 km away · station 238 m, town 255 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 20 – Apr 3	May 15 – May 29	Jul 9
Sweet pepper	Mar 6 – Mar 20	May 15 – May 29	Jul 14
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 1 – Mar 8	Apr 5 – Apr 19	May 15
Peas	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 30
Bush beans	—	May 8 – May 29	Jun 27
Carrot	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 14
Beet	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 4
Potato	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 24
Kale	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 25
Broccoli	Feb 22 – Mar 8	Apr 5 – Apr 26	Jun 4
Cucumber	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Jul 4
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Jun 29
Winter squash	Apr 17 – Apr 24	May 15 – May 29	Aug 3
Sweet corn	—	May 8 – May 29	Jul 7
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 5 – Apr 26	Jul 4
Garlic	—	Sep 25 – Oct 23 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 13
Basil	Apr 3 – Apr 17	May 15 – May 29	Jul 11

Plan all 65 crops for Monticello

Monticello'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
1898	Apr 26
1899	Apr 16
1901	Apr 21
1903	May 1
1904	May 16
1906	May 10
1907	May 20
1908	May 3
1909	May 11
1910	May 14
1911	May 4
1912	Apr 30
1913	May 11
1914	Apr 21
1915	Apr 17
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 13
1924	May 20
1925	May 26
1926	May 15
1927	Apr 30
1928	May 12
1929	May 19
1930	May 17
1931	May 23
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	May 4
1936	May 14
1937	Apr 22
1938	May 13
1939	May 3
1940	May 4
1941	May 10
1942	Apr 21
1943	May 14
1944	May 5
1945	May 11
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 29
1948	May 8
1949	May 11
1950	May 2
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 25
1953	May 13
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 16
1957	May 5
1958	May 23
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 12
1961	May 4
1962	Apr 21
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 10
1965	May 29
1967	May 22
1968	May 6
1969	Apr 30
1970	May 6
1971	May 27
1972	May 10
1973	May 17
1974	May 7
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 8
1977	May 10
1978	May 6
1979	May 26
1980	May 9
1981	May 20
1983	May 9
1984	May 28
1985	May 1
1990	May 10
1991	Apr 23
1992	May 27
1993	Apr 23
1994	May 6
1995	Apr 25
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 20
2000	Apr 22
2001	Apr 19
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2006	Apr 27
2007	Apr 17
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 17
2010	May 9
2011	May 5
2013	May 14
2014	Apr 24
2015	Apr 28
2016	May 15
2017	May 4
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 10
2021	May 13
2022	Apr 28
2023	Apr 27
2024	Apr 26
2025	Apr 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1898	168
1899	163
1901	164
1903	139
1904	140
1906	152
1907	140
1908	148
1909	153
1910	161
1911	172
1912	151
1913	133
1914	186
1915	171
1916	136
1917	110
1918	148
1919	167
1920	139
1921	144
1922	166
1923	123
1924	132
1925	133
1926	133
1927	143
1928	134
1929	121
1930	133
1931	146
1933	168
1934	182
1935	146
1936	140
1937	156
1938	163
1939	149
1940	144
1941	158
1942	155
1943	134
1944	158
1945	141
1946	156
1947	119
1948	154
1949	135
1950	144
1951	154
1952	160
1953	131
1954	139
1955	187
1956	126
1957	145
1958	130
1959	148
1960	158
1961	146
1962	151
1963	113
1964	155
1965	127
1967	129
1968	150
1969	148
1970	162
1971	132
1972	142
1973	152
1974	129
1975	143
1976	136
1977	145
1978	154
1979	118
1980	146
1981	125
1990	153
1991	149
1992	124
1993	159
1994	156
1995	150
1996	155
1997	151
1998	168
1999	166
2000	167
2001	169
2002	144
2003	160
2004	153
2005	170
2006	167
2007	193
2008	156
2009	175
2010	147
2011	149
2013	158
2014	169
2015	170
2016	152
2017	177
2018	165
2019	165
2020	147
2021	161
2022	162
2023	166
2024	172
2025	189

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1898	17.4 °C
1899	18.1 °C
1900	18.4 °C
1901	19.1 °C
1902	16.8 °C
1903	17.2 °C
1904	16.6 °C
1907	15.7 °C
1908	17.9 °C
1909	17.0 °C
1910	18.0 °C
1911	18.8 °C
1912	17.7 °C
1913	18.4 °C
1914	18.3 °C
1915	16.7 °C
1916	17.6 °C
1917	16.0 °C
1918	17.5 °C
1919	18.4 °C
1920	17.2 °C
1921	19.9 °C
1922	18.8 °C
1923	18.0 °C
1924	15.9 °C
1925	18.3 °C
1926	17.0 °C
1927	16.6 °C
1928	16.8 °C
1929	17.1 °C
1930	18.0 °C
1931	18.5 °C
1932	17.4 °C
1933	18.7 °C
1934	19.1 °C
1935	17.0 °C
1936	18.3 °C
1937	18.2 °C
1938	18.2 °C
1939	18.9 °C
1940	17.2 °C
1941	19.1 °C
1942	17.7 °C
1943	17.1 °C
1944	18.6 °C
1945	16.8 °C
1946	17.5 °C
1947	17.6 °C
1948	19.6 °C
1949	18.1 °C
1950	16.2 °C
1951	16.6 °C
1952	18.1 °C
1953	17.7 °C
1955	19.5 °C
1956	16.9 °C
1957	16.7 °C
1958	16.4 °C
1959	18.0 °C
1960	16.7 °C
1961	16.1 °C
1963	16.8 °C
1964	17.2 °C
1965	16.4 °C
1967	15.8 °C
1968	16.8 °C
1969	16.7 °C
1970	17.7 °C
1971	16.9 °C
1972	16.7 °C
1973	17.2 °C
1974	16.1 °C
1975	17.4 °C
1976	17.4 °C
1977	18.5 °C
1978	17.7 °C
1979	15.8 °C
1980	16.9 °C
1981	16.1 °C
1990	16.6 °C
1991	18.0 °C
1992	15.2 °C
1993	16.0 °C
1994	16.7 °C
1995	17.1 °C
1996	15.9 °C
1997	15.9 °C
1998	18.2 °C
1999	17.9 °C
2000	17.2 °C
2001	17.9 °C
2002	17.8 °C
2003	17.0 °C
2004	16.7 °C
2005	18.5 °C
2006	17.7 °C
2007	18.0 °C
2008	17.2 °C
2009	16.5 °C
2010	18.9 °C
2011	17.3 °C
2013	17.3 °C
2014	17.0 °C
2015	17.7 °C
2016	18.3 °C
2017	17.5 °C
2018	17.7 °C
2019	17.4 °C
2020	16.6 °C
2021	17.7 °C
2022	17.1 °C
2023	17.7 °C
2024	18.2 °C
2025	17.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1898, Monticello'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 Brodhead Wwtp (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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