One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant scallions is to consult the USDA zone info for Joliet.

Planting Calendar for Scallions

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

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

The earliest that you can plant scallions in Joliet 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 scallions and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your scallions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your scallions indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Joliet is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Joliet you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your scallions if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

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 Joliet

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