One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 estimate when it's the best time to plant cauliflower by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

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

Cauliflower are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower 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 cauliflower and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cauliflower may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your cauliflower indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Downers Grove. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Downers Grove and it is different every year. Half of the time in Downers Grove it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cauliflower if you have a late frost.

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.