When to plant / Illinois

When to plant winter squash in Illinois

The planting chart is divided into Northern Illinois, Central Illinois, and Southern Illinois. Median dates for the last 32-degree freeze on the same page: Northern Illinois April 8-29; Central Illinois April 8-15; Southern Illinois April 1-8. The page also says southern Illinois can generally start crops two weeks earlier than central Illinois and northern Illinois about two weeks later; the crop rows below are the chart dates, not a recalculation of that sentence.

Source: University of Illinois Extension, When to Plant, retrieved 2026-10-10.

How this page reads that source: Illinois Fruit and Vegetable Planting Dates chart: north: June 5 to 15; central: May 20 to June 1; south: May 6 to May 15.

North

  • June 5 to 15 (June 5–June 15).

Central

  • May 20 to June 1 (May 20–June 1).

South

  • May 6 to May 15 (May 6–May 15).

City frost pages in Illinois are listed on Illinois.