When to Plant Chicory in Dixon, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant chicory is to refer to the USDA zone info for Dixon.


Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

Chicory are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Dixon 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chicory may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your chicory indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Dixon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Dixon and it is different every year. Half of the time in Dixon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your chicory if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dixon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Dixon

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