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When to Plant New Zealand spinach in West Chicago, IL

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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant new zealand spinach is to look at the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

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Planting Calendar for New Zealand spinach

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

New Zealand spinach can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant new zealand spinach
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant new zealand spinach
Probably not a good time to plant new zealand spinach

The earliest that you can plant new zealand spinach in West Chicago 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 new zealand spinach and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your new zealand spinach may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your new zealand spinach indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Chicago. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for West Chicago is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your new zealand spinach if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.