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.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant pumpkins by checking out the USDA zone info for Lake Zurich.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant pumpkins until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Lake Zurich is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pumpkins may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Lake Zurich. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lake Zurich is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Lake Zurich last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your pumpkins if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Zurich

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 Zurich

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