Last and first frost dates in Rockford

When is the last frost in Rockford?

The last frost in Rockford usually comes around 26 April: that is the median of 2016–2025, so in about half of those years the last night at or below 0 °C came later. Hardy crops start before it and frost-tender ones only after it: in the table below arugula can go into open ground from 5 April, while corn waits until 3 May. The first autumn frost follows around 28 October, about 185 days later: harvest or cover frost-tender crops before then.

When to sow and plant

Planting out: a week after the last frost once the soil is warm enough for the crop; frost-hardy crops three weeks before it; an unheated greenhouse three weeks earlier. Seedlings are sown so they are ready on that day. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

When the soil warms up in Rockford

The day the top 7 cm of soil first averages each temperature over a week, median of 2016–2025 (ERA5 via Open-Meteo). The soil reaches 10 °C 7 days before the last spring frost and 15 °C 17 days after it.

Frost dates near Rockford

Of the nearest cities on our list, the last spring frost ends earliest in Chicago (18 April) and latest in Milwaukee (27 April).

Seeds, seedlings and markets in Rockford

Within 15 km of Rockford OpenStreetMap lists 10 garden centres (collected 28 October 2026). The nearest garden centre to the city centre is Landscape Connection, 7 km away.

• Landscape Connection — garden centre
  South Mulford Road 4472, 61109 Rockford · 7 km
• Walmart Garden Center — garden centre
  Mon–Sun 06:00–23:00 · 7 km
• Rockvalley Garden Center — garden centre
  North Bell School Road, 61107 Rockford · 8 km
• Platt Hill Nursery — garden centre
  East Riverside Boulevard 6101, 61114 Rockford · 8 km

• Where to buy seeds and seedlings in Rockford
• Selling your own harvest in the United States

Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Weather in Rockford by month

Average weather in Rockford over 2016–2025: the warmest month is July. Months that average 20 °C or more by day: May–September (21.3–28.4 °C). Nights average below 0 °C in December–March (-8.9–-0.8 °C). About 961 mm of rain falls in a year, on 125 days; May is the wettest month (109 mm) and February the driest (45 mm).

Average of the daily highs and lows, rain per month and days with at least 1 mm (ERA5 via Open-Meteo, the same grid cell as the frost dates).

Planted in autumn

From a month before the first autumn frost, so the roots grow before winter, to the late-planting limit on each crop’s page (about two weeks before the ground freezes, by ten years of weather).