The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when to plant celery is to consult the USDA zone info for Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Celery

Frost tolerance for celery:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Celery tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant celery in Chicago is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant celery and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your celery may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your celery indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Chicago. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Chicago you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your celery 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.