One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Valparaiso should be read to estimate when you can plant chicory.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

Since chicory are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on March 15 in Valparaiso. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Valparaiso is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Valparaiso you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your chicory if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Valparaiso

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Valparaiso

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