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The Facts About
Gardening in McLean County
Illinois has a moist‚ temperate‚ continental climate. Spring is often cool and wet‚ with snow common until mid-April. Spring can be so wet that planting is delayed‚ and so cool that the emergence of leaves can be delayed until the end of April. In addition to the normal weather patterns‚ the nearness of Lake Michigan keeps areas in the northeast corner of the state cool.
Summers are warm with temperatures in the 80s and 90s‚ reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit on occasion. A succession of low and high pressure systems produces alternating warm and cool weather and provides summer rains‚ mostly as thunderstorms as the lows pull humid air northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Rainfall averages about 3 inches per month throughout the summer.
Fall can be the most beautiful season of the year in Illinois. Temperatures are generally moderate‚ in the 60s and 70s in early fall‚ with daytime highs falling to the upper 30s by late November.
The growing season is from about 150 days in the northern part of the state to about 205 days far south. The average date of first frost is Oct. 20.
Additional Gardening Information
Excerpted from Illinois Gardener’s Guide,
by James A. Fizzell
Published by Cool Springs Press, www.coolspringspress.net
* Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Inc.
© Copyright 2008 Journal Communications Inc.
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