One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The USDA zone info for Lake Bluff should be looked at to determine when it's a good idea 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.

You can plant cauliflower a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant cauliflower in Lake Bluff 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 grow to maturity. Starting your cauliflower indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lake Bluff. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Bluff is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Bluff there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cauliflower in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Bluff

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 Lake Bluff

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