One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant endive is to examine the USDA zone info for Coal City.

Planting Calendar for Endive

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

You can plant endive a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant endive in Coal City 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 endive and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your endive may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your endive indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Coal City the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Coal City and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Coal City you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your endive in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Coal City

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 Coal City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Coal City.