One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant iceberg lettuce in Elmhurst by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iceberg lettuce

Frost tolerance for iceberg lettuce:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Iceberg lettuce can survive in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Elmhurst 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 iceberg lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceberg lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your iceberg lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

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

USDA Zone Info for Elmhurst

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 Elmhurst

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