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

In Downers Grove you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant beets by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Beets

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

Since beets are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Downers Grove. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Downers Grove is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Downers Grove it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your beets if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Downers Grove

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 Downers Grove

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Downers Grove.