One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Rockford you can estimate when it's possible to plant radishes by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Radishes

Frost tolerance for radishes:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Radishes do well in cold which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant radishes in Rockford 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 radishes and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your radishes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your radishes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Rockford may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rockford there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your radishes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rockford

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 Rockford

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