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

A way of estimating when to plant pearl onions is to check out the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

You can plant pearl onions a bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Elmwood Park 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pearl onions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your pearl onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Elmwood Park. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elmwood Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your pearl onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elmwood Park

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 Elmwood Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elmwood Park.