One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Chicago Ridge you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant zucchini by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Zucchini

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

Since zucchini are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant zucchini in Chicago Ridge 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your zucchini may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your zucchini indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Chicago Ridge. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Chicago Ridge and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chicago Ridge last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your zucchini in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago Ridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Chicago Ridge

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