June is high summer's beginning in Wisconsin — the longest days of the year, prairies coming into full bloom, and the woods loud with nesting birds. Strawberries ripen, fireflies fill the meadows at dusk, and the marshes echo with the young of cranes, swans, and rails.
Week by week in June
June 4–10
- The dawn chorus is at full volume by 6 a.m. — bird early, as bobolinks and grassland species sing most before the June heat builds.
- The prairies come alive with spiderwort, butterfly weed, prairie phlox, and the first wild bergamot as the bloom moves to the grasslands.
- Great spangled fritillaries emerge to nectar on milkweed and coneflower across the Driftless prairie remnants.
June 11–17
- At Horicon and Crex Meadows, sandhill crane colts and trumpeter swan cygnets follow their parents through the cattails.
- Wisconsin's June-bearing strawberries ripen and are gone quickly — buy them fully red and fragrant, as they won't sweeten after picking.
- The fragrant cream flowers of basswood hum with bees, and the conifers raise their pale 'candles' of soft new needles.
June 18–24
- The summer solstice brings Wisconsin's shortest nights, with deep twilight lingering nearly all night in the far north.
- Black-eyed Susan, butterfly weed, and pale purple coneflower open on the prairies as fireflies fill the meadows at dusk.
- Monarchs lay eggs and produce the first home-grown summer brood on milkweed statewide — a reason to leave it standing.
June 25 – July 1
- From a dark site, the Milky Way begins to arch up through the Summer Triangle toward Sagittarius, where it is richest.
- Peak harvest of peas and the first summer squash begins; stay ahead of Colorado potato beetles and cucumber beetles.
- Blue flag iris and the brilliant red cardinal flower open in wet meadows and along the streams and fens.
Birds This Month
June is the height of the breeding season, and Wisconsin's birds are singing on territory across every habitat. Woodland mornings ring with scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, wood thrushes, ovenbirds, and resident warblers, while grasslands and prairies hold bobolinks, eastern meadowlarks, dickcissels, grasshopper sparrows, and Henslow's sparrows. Baltimore orioles, indigo buntings, and common yellowthroats sing from the edges, and ruby-throated hummingbirds work garden flowers.
The marshes are full of family life: at Horicon Marsh and Crex Meadows, sandhill crane colts, trumpeter swan cygnets, and broods of ducks follow their parents through the cattails, and black terns, Forster's terns, and marsh wrens nest over the water. At Necedah NWR, the endangered whooping cranes are raising young.
This month's tip: bird early — by 6 a.m. the dawn chorus is at full volume, and grassland species like bobolinks sing most actively in the cool first hours before the June heat builds.
What's Blooming
June shifts Wisconsin's bloom from the shaded woods to the sunny prairies and meadows. The tallgrass and Driftless prairies come alive with early summer color: spiderwort, black-eyed Susan, butterfly weed and other milkweeds, pale purple coneflower, leadplant, prairie phlox, and the white umbels of wild quinine. In wet meadows and fens, blue flag iris and the first orchids open.
Roadsides and old fields fill with ox-eye daisy, common milkweed, wild rose, and the lingering blue of lupine in the sand counties. The woodland ephemerals are gone to seed now, but shadier ground still offers columbine, the spotted bells of wood lily, and the last jack-in-the-pulpit. Gardens reach their early-summer peak with peonies, roses, iris, and the start of the long perennial show.
Garden This Month
June is when the Wisconsin garden hits its stride. With frost behind even the northern counties early in the month, all warm-season crops can go in — finish planting tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, beans, and melons, and continue succession-sowing beans, carrots, lettuce, and cilantro for a steady harvest. Stake and cage tomatoes before they sprawl, and pinch and train indeterminate types.
The long days drive explosive growth, so the work turns to maintenance: mulch beds to conserve moisture and suppress weeds, water deeply during dry spells (Wisconsin Junes can swing from soggy to droughty), and stay ahead of weeds and the first pests — Colorado potato beetles, cucumber beetles, and cabbage worms all appear now. Harvest the earliest crops as they come: spring lettuce, radishes, peas, and the first strawberries. Deadhead spring perennials and plant out any remaining annuals.
Zone 4a (northern Wisconsin): with frost danger finally past in early June, set out the last of the tomatoes, peppers, squash, and beans, and direct-sow warm-season crops. The short season here makes early-maturing varieties essential — keep them well watered as they establish.
Zone 4b (central Wisconsin): all warm-season planting is safe now — finish setting out transplants and succession-sow beans, cucumbers, and summer greens. Begin mulching and consistent watering as the longest days drive rapid growth.
What's at the Farmers Market
June markets fill out as the first real summer harvest arrives. The headline crop is strawberries — Wisconsin's June-bearing berries ripen mid-month and are gone quickly, so buy them at peak. They join asparagus (winding down), abundant peas and snap peas, spinach, lettuces, green onions, radishes, rhubarb, kohlrabi, and the first summer squash and new potatoes late in the month.
Bedding plants give way to cut flowers, fresh herbs, and a growing array of greens. Wisconsin cheese, eggs, honey, and pasture-raised meats are constants. Choose strawberries that are fully red, fragrant, and dry — they won't sweeten after picking — and refrigerate them unwashed, using within a day or two. Snap peas should be firm and bright; shell peas are sweetest the day they're picked, so buy and eat them fast.
Night Sky This Month
June brings the summer solstice and Wisconsin's shortest nights — true astronomical darkness barely arrives in the far north, where the deep twilight lingers nearly all night. Still, the early-summer sky is rich. The Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair climbs the eastern sky, and Scorpius crawls low along the southern horizon with red Antares at its heart, trailed by the teapot of Sagittarius.
From a dark site, the Milky Way begins to arch up through the Summer Triangle and toward Sagittarius, where it is richest, marking the direction of our galaxy's center. The bright globular cluster M13 in Hercules rides high overhead. No major meteor shower peaks this month, but the warm, mild nights make for some of the most pleasant casual stargazing of the year from the northwoods and Door County dark-sky sites.
For exact planet positions and the best dark windows around the solstice, consult the printable Wisconsin night-sky guide for your region.
Butterflies & Pollinators
June is one of Wisconsin's peak butterfly months, with prairies, gardens, and woodland edges alive with color. The big eastern tiger and black swallowtails are common, and great spangled fritillaries emerge in numbers to nectar on milkweed and coneflower across the Driftless prairies. Monarchs are now laying eggs and producing the first home-grown summer brood on milkweed statewide. Smaller species abound: pearl crescents, silvery checkerspots, eastern tailed-blues, summer azures, banded hairstreaks, and a parade of skippers work the grasslands. In the central sand counties, the second look at the endangered Karner blue's first brood gives way to its caterpillars feeding on lupine. The red-spotted purple and viceroy patrol moist woodland edges and streamsides. With the longest days driving abundant nectar, a prairie remnant or a milkweed-rich roadside can hold a dozen or more species on a single warm afternoon.
What to plant for them is in the Wisconsin native plants guide
Trees This Month
June's trees are in full, deep-green leaf, growing fast in the long daylight. The early-summer flowering shifts to the late bloomers: the creamy, fragrant flower clusters of basswood (American linden) hum with bees, the white flat-topped flowers of elderberry and nannyberry open along the edges, and black locust finishes its sweet-scented bloom. The maples and oaks are setting and swelling their seed — maple samaras spin down, and the acorns of bur and white oak begin to form.
The conifers complete their flush of new growth, the soft pale needles of white and red pine darkening to mature green. In the bogs, the tamaracks wear full soft needles now, and the northwoods stands of balsam fir and spruce tip out their new growth. It is the lushest, fastest-growing stretch of the Wisconsin tree year.
The Wisconsin native plants guide covers what grows with them
Weather & Daylight
Across Wisconsin, a typical June day averages a high near 76°F and a low near 54°F, with about 4.7 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Summer warmth arrives fast, muggy 76F afternoons and mild 54F nights come with the year's heaviest downpours.
| Average high | 76°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 54°F |
| Precipitation | 4.7 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 5:14 CT |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 20:43 CT |
Figures are statewide averages over the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals; local conditions vary with elevation and distance from the coast. Sunrise and sunset are computed for a midstate point on the 15th (CT).
Next month's version of this page, by email
One short note when Wisconsin's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
Go deeper with the Wisconsin guides
The complete Wisconsin birding, native-plant, and night-sky references — or the whole year, week by week, in one book.
Same month elsewhere: June in Wyoming · June in Alabama · June in Arizona