One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Chicago it's a good idea to determine when you can plant cauliflower.

Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

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

Cauliflower are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower in Chicago 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 cauliflower and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cauliflower may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cauliflower indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Chicago you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cauliflower if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago

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

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