When to Plant Iceberg lettuce in Darien, IL

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

The USDA zone info for Darien should be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant iceberg lettuce.


Planting Calendar for Iceberg lettuce

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

You can plant iceberg lettuce just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant iceberg lettuce
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant iceberg lettuce
Probably not a good time to plant iceberg lettuce

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Darien 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 iceberg lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceberg lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your iceberg lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Darien. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Darien may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Darien you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your iceberg lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Darien

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 Darien

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