When to Plant Chicory in Geneva, IL

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

A common way of determining when to plant chicory is to check out the USDA zone info for Geneva.


Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

You can plant chicory a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chicory
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chicory
Probably not a good time to plant chicory

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Geneva 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your chicory indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Geneva and it is different every year. Half of the time in Geneva you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chicory if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

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