When to Plant Rhubarb in Harvey, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 Harvey can be reviewed to determine when you can plant rhubarb.


Planting Calendar for Rhubarb

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

Rhubarb are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Harvey. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Harvey is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Harvey there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your rhubarb if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Harvey

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 Harvey

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