When to Plant Celery in Dekalb, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Dekalb it's possible to estimate when you can plant celery.


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.

You can plant celery just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant celery in Dekalb 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your celery may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your celery indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Dekalb. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dekalb is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Dekalb it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your celery if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dekalb

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 Dekalb

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