One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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 Grayslake you can estimate when it's the best time to plant kale by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

You can plant kale a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Grayslake 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Grayslake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Grayslake there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grayslake

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 Grayslake

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