When to plant in Viroqua, WI

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

Safe to plant out

May 20

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 4

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

149

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Viroqua · 1.1 km away · station 382 m, town 386 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Viroqua plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 14
Sweet pepper	Mar 11 – Mar 25	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 19
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 8 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 22
Peas	—	Apr 12 – May 10	Jun 6
Bush beans	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 2
Carrot	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 21
Beet	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 11
Potato	—	Apr 22 – May 13	Jul 1
Kale	Mar 8 – Mar 22	Apr 19 – May 3	Jun 1
Broccoli	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – May 3	Jun 11
Cucumber	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 9
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 4
Winter squash	Apr 22 – Apr 29	May 20 – Jun 3	Aug 8
Sweet corn	—	May 13 – Jun 3	Jul 12
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 12 – May 3	Jul 11
Garlic	—	Sep 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 12 – May 10	May 20
Basil	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 20 – Jun 3	Jul 16

Plan all 65 crops for Viroqua

Viroqua'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 5
1894	Apr 23
1895	May 19
1896	Apr 22
1897	Jun 1
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 16
1900	May 5
1901	May 25
1902	May 10
1903	May 3
1904	May 15
1905	May 26
1906	May 9
1907	May 20
1908	May 3
1909	May 10
1910	May 3
1911	May 3
1912	May 14
1913	May 10
1914	Apr 20
1915	May 18
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 13
1919	Apr 29
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 28
1923	May 10
1924	May 25
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 16
1930	May 17
1931	May 7
1932	Apr 27
1933	May 5
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 22
1938	Apr 22
1939	May 2
1940	May 2
1941	Apr 24
1942	Apr 19
1943	May 1
1944	May 6
1945	Jun 4
1946	May 11
1947	May 29
1948	May 8
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 2
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 15
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1956	May 16
1957	May 4
1959	May 8
1960	May 12
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 23
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 15
1965	May 30
1966	May 14
1967	May 22
1968	May 10
1969	May 12
1970	May 17
1971	May 27
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 17
1974	May 7
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 8
1977	May 9
1978	May 6
1980	May 14
1981	May 19
1982	Apr 30
1983	May 26
1984	May 30
1985	May 2
1986	May 20
1987	May 5
1988	May 25
1989	Jun 10
1990	Jun 4
1991	Apr 24
1992	May 27
1993	May 20
1995	May 6
1996	May 13
1997	May 21
1998	Apr 28
1999	May 9
2000	May 19
2001	Apr 24
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 23
2004	May 15
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 13
2010	Apr 10
2011	May 5
2012	Apr 27
2013	May 13
2014	May 16
2015	Apr 27
2016	May 16
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 11
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 28
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 17

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	141
1894	154
1895	133
1896	150
1897	129
1898	189
1899	162
1900	155
1901	130
1902	120
1903	137
1904	128
1905	138
1906	149
1907	127
1908	148
1909	153
1910	171
1911	170
1912	134
1913	134
1914	187
1915	142
1916	135
1917	109
1918	130
1919	170
1921	140
1922	163
1923	125
1924	126
1928	149
1929	124
1930	133
1931	162
1932	161
1933	159
1934	183
1935	145
1936	172
1937	156
1938	183
1940	165
1941	157
1942	158
1943	165
1944	157
1945	116
1946	153
1947	115
1948	154
1949	162
1950	144
1951	157
1952	170
1953	146
1954	151
1955	160
1956	126
1957	158
1959	132
1960	143
1961	124
1962	149
1963	112
1964	165
1965	119
1966	123
1967	129
1968	146
1969	138
1970	133
1971	132
1972	156
1973	152
1974	137
1975	143
1976	138
1977	146
1978	154
1980	125
1981	131
1982	143
1983	117
1984	107
1985	144
1986	99
1987	149
1989	104
1990	117
1991	147
1992	124
1993	132
1995	138
1996	141
1997	145
1998	168
1999	134
2000	127
2001	153
2002	125
2003	157
2006	184
2007	190
2008	156
2009	179
2010	175
2011	132
2012	148
2013	158
2014	140
2015	171
2016	149
2017	178
2018	164
2019	165
2020	143
2021	163
2022	152
2023	160
2024	172
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	15.7 °C
1894	17.7 °C
1895	17.8 °C
1896	17.1 °C
1897	16.5 °C
1898	16.9 °C
1899	16.8 °C
1900	17.7 °C
1901	17.5 °C
1902	15.4 °C
1903	15.2 °C
1904	15.2 °C
1905	16.4 °C
1906	17.7 °C
1907	14.6 °C
1908	17.0 °C
1909	16.3 °C
1910	17.8 °C
1911	17.9 °C
1912	16.9 °C
1913	17.2 °C
1914	16.6 °C
1915	15.2 °C
1916	16.4 °C
1917	14.8 °C
1918	15.2 °C
1922	16.6 °C
1924	13.9 °C
1928	16.6 °C
1929	16.4 °C
1930	17.9 °C
1931	18.7 °C
1932	17.6 °C
1933	18.3 °C
1934	18.8 °C
1935	16.9 °C
1936	18.1 °C
1937	17.9 °C
1938	17.0 °C
1940	17.0 °C
1941	18.8 °C
1942	16.7 °C
1943	16.4 °C
1944	16.9 °C
1945	15.2 °C
1946	16.8 °C
1947	16.7 °C
1948	18.6 °C
1950	15.2 °C
1951	15.8 °C
1952	17.1 °C
1953	16.2 °C
1954	16.4 °C
1955	18.9 °C
1956	16.1 °C
1957	16.4 °C
1959	17.5 °C
1960	16.5 °C
1961	15.7 °C
1962	16.0 °C
1963	16.8 °C
1964	17.4 °C
1966	15.7 °C
1967	15.5 °C
1968	16.4 °C
1969	16.3 °C
1970	16.9 °C
1971	16.3 °C
1972	16.1 °C
1973	16.3 °C
1974	15.8 °C
1975	16.1 °C
1976	16.8 °C
1977	17.9 °C
1978	16.2 °C
1980	16.3 °C
1981	16.3 °C
1983	15.5 °C
1984	15.3 °C
1985	16.3 °C
1986	15.9 °C
1987	17.2 °C
1991	16.6 °C
1992	13.9 °C
1993	14.0 °C
1995	16.1 °C
1996	14.6 °C
1997	14.6 °C
1998	16.8 °C
1999	16.3 °C
2000	15.6 °C
2001	16.2 °C
2002	16.2 °C
2003	15.9 °C
2004	15.7 °C
2006	16.4 °C
2007	16.5 °C
2008	15.6 °C
2009	15.2 °C
2010	16.9 °C
2011	15.6 °C
2012	17.0 °C
2013	15.2 °C
2014	15.3 °C
2015	16.1 °C
2016	16.3 °C
2017	15.9 °C
2018	15.8 °C
2019	15.6 °C
2020	15.5 °C
2021	16.6 °C
2022	15.5 °C
2023	16.8 °C
2024	16.5 °C
2025	16.8 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Viroqua's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

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