Springfield, IL · zone 6a · ~190 frost-free days
When to plant a garden in Springfield.
In Springfield, the typical last spring frost lands around Apr 15 and the first fall frost around Oct 22, giving you about 190 frost-free days. Cool-season crops go out before the last frost; warm-season crops wait until after it.
The 2026 windows
Sow dates for Springfield, keyed to your frost.
| Crop | Start indoors | Spring sow / set out | Fall sow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato, slicing | Mar 11 to May 11 | Apr 22 to Jun 22 | — |
| Lettuce, leaf | — | Mar 8 to Apr 22 | Aug 8 to Oct 7 |
| Carrot | — | Mar 8 to Apr 10 | Jul 27 to Aug 22 |
| Bush Bean | — | Apr 15 to Jun 5 | Jul 8 to Aug 10 |
| Cucumber, slicing | — | Apr 22 to Jul 22 | Jun 21 to Jul 22 |
| Pepper, bell | Mar 20 to May 11 | May 1 to Jun 22 | — |
| Kale | Jan 25 to Feb 22 | Mar 8 to Apr 5 | Jul 22 to Sep 6 |
| Spinach | — | Feb 22 to Apr 5 | Aug 8 to Sep 26 |
Springfield sits in Zone 6a, but two gardens in the same city can be a week or two apart. The planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not the zone, so the dates land right for your block, not the metro average.
Build your Springfield garden plan.
Tell the free planner what you want to eat and who you're feeding. It returns plant counts, spacing, and frost-safe sow dates for ZIP 62701 in about 60 seconds.