One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Lake Forest it's a good idea to determine when it's possible to plant chinese cabbage.

Planting Calendar for Chinese cabbage

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

Since chinese cabbage are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage in Lake Forest 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 chinese cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chinese cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lake Forest. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Lake Forest may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lake Forest last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to protect your chinese cabbage if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

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 Forest

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