When to plant in Spooner, WI

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

Safe to plant out

May 24

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 26

1 year in 10 by Sep 14

Frost-free days

135

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Spooner Ag Rsch Stn · 1.0 km away · station 335 m, town 332 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Spooner plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 18
Sweet pepper	Mar 15 – Mar 29	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 23
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 14 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	May 28
Peas	—	Apr 15 – May 13	Jun 9
Bush beans	—	May 17 – Jun 7	Jul 6
Carrot	—	Apr 25 – Jun 6	Jun 24
Beet	—	Apr 23 – Jun 4	Jun 12
Potato	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jul 4
Kale	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 4
Broccoli	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 9	Jun 17
Cucumber	Apr 26 – May 3	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 13
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 26 – May 3	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 8
Winter squash	Apr 26 – May 3	May 24 – Jun 7	Aug 12
Sweet corn	—	May 17 – Jun 7	Jul 16
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 18 – May 9	Jul 17
Garlic	—	Sep 12 – Oct 10 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 15 – May 13	May 23
Basil	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 24 – Jun 7	Jul 20

Plan all 65 crops for Spooner

Spooner'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
1895	May 21
1896	Jun 10
1897	Jun 11
1898	May 13
1899	Jun 15
1900	May 19
1905	May 30
1907	May 27
1908	Jun 15
1909	May 10
1910	May 31
1911	May 4
1912	May 14
1913	Jun 9
1914	May 13
1915	May 18
1916	May 17
1917	Jun 15
1918	May 13
1919	May 17
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 27
1923	May 16
1924	Jun 3
1925	May 25
1926	May 22
1927	Jun 1
1928	Jun 3
1929	Jun 3
1930	May 30
1931	May 23
1932	May 11
1933	May 10
1934	May 15
1935	May 24
1936	May 3
1937	May 19
1938	May 24
1939	May 15
1940	May 25
1941	Jun 15
1942	May 23
1943	May 17
1944	May 9
1945	Jun 6
1946	Jun 3
1947	Jun 2
1948	May 30
1950	May 27
1951	May 13
1952	Jun 1
1953	Jun 7
1954	Jun 5
1955	May 17
1956	Jun 1
1957	Jun 2
1958	May 28
1959	May 16
1960	Jun 8
1961	Jun 15
1962	Jun 12
1963	Jun 12
1964	Jun 5
1965	May 29
1966	May 31
1967	May 20
1968	May 17
1969	Jun 20
1970	May 6
1971	May 27
1972	Jun 23
1973	May 29
1974	May 9
1975	May 16
1976	May 24
1977	May 9
1978	May 6
1979	May 25
1980	May 16
1981	May 19
1982	Jun 3
1983	May 26
1984	May 29
1985	Apr 11
1986	Jun 2
1987	May 12
1988	Jun 9
1989	May 12
1990	May 30
1991	May 6
1992	Jun 21
1993	May 16
1994	Jun 2
1995	May 18
1996	May 13
1997	May 21
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 29
2000	May 19
2001	May 12
2002	May 20
2003	May 3
2004	May 15
2005	May 17
2006	May 22
2007	May 17
2008	May 27
2009	May 17
2010	May 9
2011	May 16
2012	Apr 27
2013	May 24
2014	May 17
2015	May 20
2016	May 18
2017	May 7
2018	May 12
2019	May 20
2020	May 12
2021	May 29
2022	May 4
2023	May 3
2024	May 10
2025	Apr 26

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1895	102
1896	68
1898	118
1899	89
1905	105
1907	117
1908	105
1909	113
1910	127
1911	166
1912	135
1913	105
1914	134
1915	141
1916	122
1917	74
1918	113
1919	142
1920	138
1921	139
1922	150
1923	119
1924	97
1925	118
1926	113
1927	113
1928	111
1929	106
1930	121
1931	141
1932	127
1933	133
1934	96
1935	99
1936	136
1937	119
1938	136
1939	131
1940	109
1941	72
1942	119
1943	116
1944	136
1945	106
1946	90
1947	111
1948	119
1950	119
1951	137
1952	114
1953	97
1954	108
1955	116
1956	97
1957	115
1958	125
1959	123
1960	112
1961	99
1962	84
1963	92
1964	69
1965	104
1966	116
1967	90
1968	134
1969	80
1970	144
1971	112
1972	90
1973	111
1974	110
1975	115
1976	120
1977	145
1978	141
1979	132
1980	123
1981	123
1982	109
1983	119
1984	119
1985	166
1986	96
1987	135
1988	115
1990	131
1991	136
1992	92
1993	124
1994	118
1995	112
1996	123
1997	141
1998	146
1999	155
2000	127
2001	134
2002	129
2003	148
2004	139
2005	142
2006	135
2007	117
2008	128
2009	135
2010	139
2011	121
2012	143
2013	114
2014	139
2015	132
2016	143
2017	155
2018	139
2019	145
2020	120
2021	140
2022	146
2023	158
2024	146
2025	164

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1895	15.8 °C
1896	15.1 °C
1897	15.3 °C
1898	16.2 °C
1899	16.1 °C
1907	12.9 °C
1908	15.3 °C
1909	14.2 °C
1910	15.6 °C
1911	15.4 °C
1912	14.6 °C
1913	15.4 °C
1914	14.7 °C
1915	14.1 °C
1916	14.7 °C
1917	13.6 °C
1918	14.4 °C
1919	15.7 °C
1920	13.8 °C
1921	17.4 °C
1922	16.0 °C
1923	15.6 °C
1924	13.1 °C
1925	15.9 °C
1926	14.8 °C
1927	14.2 °C
1928	13.6 °C
1929	14.9 °C
1930	16.4 °C
1931	16.8 °C
1932	15.9 °C
1933	16.8 °C
1934	15.8 °C
1935	15.1 °C
1936	16.6 °C
1937	16.1 °C
1938	15.7 °C
1939	15.9 °C
1940	14.8 °C
1941	16.6 °C
1942	14.9 °C
1943	15.5 °C
1944	15.9 °C
1945	13.7 °C
1946	14.8 °C
1947	15.1 °C
1948	16.4 °C
1950	13.7 °C
1951	14.1 °C
1952	15.7 °C
1953	15.4 °C
1954	14.7 °C
1955	17.4 °C
1956	14.4 °C
1957	15.2 °C
1958	14.8 °C
1959	16.4 °C
1960	15.4 °C
1961	14.8 °C
1962	14.7 °C
1963	15.6 °C
1964	15.8 °C
1965	14.3 °C
1966	14.5 °C
1967	14.2 °C
1968	15.2 °C
1969	15.4 °C
1970	15.9 °C
1971	15.0 °C
1972	14.6 °C
1973	15.2 °C
1974	14.2 °C
1975	14.7 °C
1976	16.2 °C
1977	16.4 °C
1978	15.8 °C
1979	14.5 °C
1980	16.0 °C
1981	15.2 °C
1982	15.1 °C
1983	15.5 °C
1984	15.6 °C
1985	15.4 °C
1986	16.1 °C
1987	17.3 °C
1988	17.6 °C
1989	15.7 °C
1990	15.6 °C
1991	16.7 °C
1992	14.3 °C
1993	14.4 °C
1994	15.7 °C
1995	15.7 °C
1996	15.0 °C
1997	15.1 °C
1998	17.6 °C
1999	16.9 °C
2000	15.8 °C
2001	16.7 °C
2002	15.8 °C
2003	16.2 °C
2004	15.4 °C
2005	17.4 °C
2006	17.4 °C
2007	16.5 °C
2008	15.1 °C
2009	15.0 °C
2010	16.3 °C
2011	15.6 °C
2012	16.6 °C
2013	15.0 °C
2014	14.7 °C
2015	16.1 °C
2016	16.0 °C
2017	15.1 °C
2018	15.7 °C
2019	15.1 °C
2020	15.4 °C
2021	16.1 °C
2022	15.3 °C
2023	16.2 °C
2024	16.2 °C
2025	16.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1895, Spooner'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 Spooner Ag Rsch Stn (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Shell Lake Cumberland Rice Lake Hayward Little Round Lake Barron