One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Island Lake you will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant cauliflower.

Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

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

Cauliflower do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Island Lake is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Island Lake there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your cauliflower in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Island Lake

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 Island Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Island Lake.