When to Plant Bunching Onions in Itasca, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Itasca it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant bunching onions.


Planting Calendar for Bunching Onions

Frost tolerance for bunching onions: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Bunching Onions do well in very little cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant bunching onions in Itasca is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bunching onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bunching onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your bunching onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Itasca the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Itasca is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Itasca you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bunching onions if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Itasca

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 Itasca

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