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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Hickory Hills it's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant tomatos.

Planting Calendar for Tomatos

Frost tolerance for tomatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Tomatos require warm weather which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tomatos in Hickory Hills is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tomatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tomatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tomatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Hickory Hills. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Hickory Hills may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Hickory Hills last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your tomatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hickory Hills

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 Hickory Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Hickory Hills.