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

A way of determining when it's a good idea to plant leeks is to look at the USDA zone info for Island Lake.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

Frost tolerance for leeks:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant leeks a lot earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant leeks 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 leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your leeks may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your leeks indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Island Lake. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Island Lake is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Island Lake there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your leeks in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.