Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant pumpkins is to check out the USDA zone info for Chicago Heights.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Pumpkins require warm weather which means that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Chicago Heights 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 pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Chicago Heights is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Chicago Heights you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago Heights

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 Chicago Heights

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