The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant endive is to check out the USDA zone info for Lombard.

Planting Calendar for Endive

Frost tolerance for endive:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Endive tend to make it in mild cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant endive in Lombard is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant endive and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your endive may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your endive indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lombard. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lombard may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lombard you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your endive if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lombard

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Lombard

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lombard.