When to Plant Leeks in Wilmington, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Wilmington should be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant leeks.

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Planting Calendar for Leeks

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

Leeks do well in cold which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant leeks
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant leeks
Probably not a good time to plant leeks

The earliest that you can plant leeks in Wilmington 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your leeks may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your leeks indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Wilmington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmington may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmington you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your leeks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmington

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 Wilmington

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