When to Plant Kale in Addison, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant kale is to look at the USDA zone info for Addison.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Since kale do well in moderate cold you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale in Addison 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Addison 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.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Addison is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Addison it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Addison

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 Addison

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