When to plant in Windsor, WI

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

Safe to plant out

May 21

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 7

1 year in 10 by Sep 24

Frost-free days

153

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Madison Dane Co Rgnl Ap · 8.6 km away · station 262 m, town 274 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Windsor plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 26 – Apr 9	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 15
Sweet pepper	Mar 12 – Mar 26	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 2 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 16
Peas	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 30
Bush beans	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 3
Carrot	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 15
Beet	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 5
Potato	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 25
Kale	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 12 – Apr 26	May 25
Broccoli	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jun 5
Cucumber	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 5
Winter squash	Apr 23 – Apr 30	May 21 – Jun 4	Aug 9
Sweet corn	—	May 14 – Jun 4	Jul 13
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 6 – Apr 27	Jul 5
Garlic	—	Sep 23 – Oct 21 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 5 – May 3	May 13
Basil	Apr 9 – Apr 23	May 21 – Jun 4	Jul 17

Plan all 65 crops for Windsor

Windsor'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
1940	May 4
1941	Apr 25
1942	Apr 13
1943	May 1
1944	Apr 19
1945	May 9
1946	Apr 27
1947	May 10
1948	May 8
1949	May 10
1950	May 8
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 16
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 20
1955	Apr 7
1956	May 8
1957	May 16
1958	May 23
1959	Apr 21
1960	May 12
1961	May 26
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	May 29
1965	May 30
1966	May 31
1967	May 22
1968	May 6
1969	May 12
1970	May 6
1971	May 27
1972	Jun 10
1973	May 4
1974	May 13
1975	Apr 26
1976	May 18
1977	May 10
1978	May 6
1979	May 16
1980	May 9
1981	May 12
1982	Apr 28
1983	May 26
1984	May 15
1985	May 2
1986	May 3
1987	May 5
1988	May 25
1989	May 12
1990	May 11
1991	Apr 22
1992	May 27
1993	Apr 26
1994	May 6
1995	Apr 25
1996	May 30
1997	May 21
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 25
2000	Apr 26
2001	Apr 18
2002	May 21
2003	May 3
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 16
2008	May 4
2009	Apr 22
2010	May 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 27
2013	May 13
2014	Apr 23
2015	Apr 28
2016	May 15
2017	May 3
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 13
2021	May 11
2022	May 4
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 25

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1940	144
1941	184
1942	163
1943	185
1944	185
1945	152
1946	168
1947	143
1948	147
1949	136
1950	138
1951	155
1952	168
1953	162
1954	151
1955	157
1956	133
1957	134
1958	130
1959	178
1960	158
1961	124
1962	152
1963	113
1964	106
1965	118
1966	116
1967	128
1968	150
1969	138
1970	150
1971	132
1972	111
1973	165
1974	131
1975	152
1976	126
1977	145
1978	153
1979	141
1980	139
1981	142
1982	146
1983	135
1984	123
1985	147
1986	155
1987	149
1988	132
1989	133
1990	152
1991	150
1992	124
1993	155
1994	156
1995	149
1996	124
1997	145
1998	168
1999	159
2000	162
2001	170
2002	138
2003	149
2004	153
2005	164
2006	152
2007	151
2008	152
2009	169
2010	147
2011	150
2012	149
2013	153
2014	170
2015	170
2016	177
2017	178
2018	165
2019	178
2020	141
2021	163
2022	163
2023	173
2024	173

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1940	16.6 °C
1941	17.5 °C
1942	16.4 °C
1943	15.9 °C
1944	16.6 °C
1945	15.2 °C
1946	16.0 °C
1947	15.8 °C
1948	17.9 °C
1949	17.5 °C
1950	15.7 °C
1951	16.1 °C
1952	17.5 °C
1953	17.4 °C
1954	17.3 °C
1955	18.9 °C
1956	16.8 °C
1957	16.8 °C
1958	16.5 °C
1959	18.1 °C
1960	16.4 °C
1961	15.8 °C
1962	16.3 °C
1963	16.8 °C
1964	17.3 °C
1965	15.7 °C
1966	15.0 °C
1967	14.5 °C
1968	16.1 °C
1969	15.8 °C
1970	16.7 °C
1971	16.9 °C
1972	15.6 °C
1973	16.5 °C
1974	15.9 °C
1975	16.8 °C
1976	16.7 °C
1977	17.4 °C
1978	16.6 °C
1979	15.8 °C
1980	16.7 °C
1981	16.5 °C
1982	15.4 °C
1983	16.4 °C
1984	16.2 °C
1985	16.9 °C
1986	16.9 °C
1987	17.9 °C
1988	18.1 °C
1989	16.2 °C
1990	16.9 °C
1991	18.1 °C
1992	15.5 °C
1993	16.5 °C
1994	17.3 °C
1995	17.8 °C
1996	15.4 °C
1997	15.3 °C
1998	17.8 °C
1999	17.3 °C
2000	16.6 °C
2001	17.2 °C
2002	17.1 °C
2003	16.4 °C
2004	16.5 °C
2005	18.2 °C
2006	17.3 °C
2007	17.8 °C
2008	16.9 °C
2009	16.2 °C
2010	18.4 °C
2011	17.2 °C
2012	18.7 °C
2013	17.2 °C
2014	17.1 °C
2015	17.7 °C
2016	17.9 °C
2017	17.2 °C
2018	17.4 °C
2019	17.4 °C
2020	17.1 °C
2021	18.2 °C
2022	17.5 °C
2023	18.0 °C
2024	18.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1940, Windsor's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Madison Dane Co Rgnl Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

DeForest Waunakee Sun Prairie Maple Bluff Dane Madison