One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

The USDA zone info for Downers Grove can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant sweet potatos.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

Frost tolerance for sweet potatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since sweet potatos are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Downers Grove is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your sweet potatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Downers Grove the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Downers Grove is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Downers Grove last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise 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.