The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant tarragon is to check out the USDA zone info for Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Tarragon

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

Since tarragon do ok in moderate cold you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant tarragon 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 tarragon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tarragon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your tarragon indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Chicago is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your tarragon in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.