Use this as a Waukesha-area planning baseline; delay warm crops when spring is cold or a late frost is forecast.
Regional guide
Northern Wisconsin Planting Guide
UW Extension crop-row timing guide for northern Wisconsin vegetables, indoor starts, transplants, direct seeding, and yield caveats.
Regional timing
Current regional planting plan
UW Extension crop-row timing guide for northern Wisconsin vegetables, indoor starts, transplants, direct seeding, and yield caveats.
Source-backed timing
UW Extension Planting guide for northern Wisconsin
Northern Wisconsin
153 frost-free days
May 7 last frost
spring release
Oct 7 first frost
fall limit
- Planting guide for northern Wisconsin is from publication A1653, Vegetable cultivars and planting guide for Wisconsin gardens-2008, by A.J. Bussan, Judy Reith-Rozelle, and Karen Delahaut, UW Coop Extension.
- Cool-season direct-seed rows include Beet, Carrot, Chard, Kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, Mustard, Parsnip, Pea, Radish, Spinach, and Turnip on April 29.
- Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and head lettuce use March 29 indoors and May 14 plants.
- Catalog priority
- 32 priority crops 32 catalog examples
- Climate checks
- 7 climate signals 11 planning notes
- Timing basis
- Using SE Wisconsin dates May 7 to Oct 7
Provider Bush Bean, Detroit Dark Red Beet, Waltham 29 Broccoli, Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts
The sweet corn footnote says sugary enhancers and supersweets should wait until May 25.
Calendar
Convert regional timing into dated sowing, transplant, and harvest jobs.
Frost dates
Keep hardiness zone context separate from local first and last frost dates.
All regions
Compare this guide with the broader regional atlas.
SE Wisconsin
UW Extension Waukesha County vegetable planting schedule for Southeastern Wisconsin spring starts, warm-soil crops, and late planting cutoffs.
Climate signals
- Planting guide for northern Wisconsin is from publication A1653, Vegetable cultivars and planting guide for Wisconsin gardens-2008, by A.J. Bussan, Judy Reith-Rozelle, and Karen Delahaut, UW Coop Extension.
- Cool-season direct-seed rows include Beet, Carrot, Chard, Kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, Mustard, Parsnip, Pea, Radish, Spinach, and Turnip on April 29.
- Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and head lettuce use March 29 indoors and May 14 plants.
- Onion uses February 29 indoors, May 14 plants, and April 29 sets, with no priority link because the catalog onion is a weak match.
- Parsley uses March 14 indoors and May 14 plants.
- Tomato uses April 29 indoors and June 3 plants; Pepper uses April 14 indoors and June 14 plants; Eggplant uses March 29 indoors and June 14 plants.
- Celery uses March 29 indoors and June 3 plants; Okra uses April 29 indoors and June 14 plants.
Planning notes
- Warm-season direct-seed rows include Bush snap beans on May 24, Sweet corn on May 10 and June 8, and Cucumber on June 14.
- The sweet corn footnote says sugary enhancers and supersweets should wait until May 25.
- Muskmelon uses May 29 indoors and June 3 plants, while Watermelon uses June 3.
- Pumpkin uses May 14 indoors, June 3 plants, and May 24 seeds; fall squash uses May 14 indoors and June 3 plants.
- Brussels sprouts use May 29 seeds and 90-100 days; late cabbage also uses May 29 seeds.
- Chinese cabbage and Collards use July 4 seeds; Endive uses July 9; Kale uses July 9; Rutabaga uses June 29.
- Potato, Asparagus, Rhubarb, and Salsify are source rows with no catalog seed link in this guide.
- Summer squash is a source row with no catalog seed link because the available squash links are weak matches for this row.
- Cultivars vary in days to harvest; extend harvest with cultivars of different maturity dates or successive plantings.
- Estimated yields are under less than ideal growing conditions, and actual yields vary with weather, soil fertility, and cultural practices.
- Use these priority catalog links as crop-level examples for the UW Extension northern guide, not UW cultivar recommendations.
Catalog crop examples
These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.
- Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
- Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
- Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
- Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
- Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
- Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
- Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
- Tall Utah Celery Vegetable · Cool · 110 days
- Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
- Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
- Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
- Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Green Curled Endive Vegetable · Cool · 85 days
- Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
- Early White Vienna Kohlrabi Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
- Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
- Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
- Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
- Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 days
- Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
- Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
- California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
- Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
- French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
- American Purple Top Rutabaga Vegetable · Cool · 90 days
- Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
- Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
- Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
- Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
- Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
Related regional guides
- Southeastern Wisconsin Planting Schedule Vegetable Garden UW Extension Waukesha County vegetable planting schedule for Southeastern Wisconsin spring starts, warm-soil crops, and late planting cutoffs.
- Wisconsin Container Vegetable Varieties UW-Madison Extension container-variety guide for limited-space Wisconsin gardeners choosing container-suited vegetables, herbs, and salad greens.