One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Carol Stream it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant squash.

Planting Calendar for Squash

Frost tolerance for squash:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Squash require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Carol Stream is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Carol Stream. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Carol Stream is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Carol Stream you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your squash if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carol Stream

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 Carol Stream

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Carol Stream.