One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 way of making a decision about when you can plant stocks is to check out the USDA zone info for Lemont.

Planting Calendar for Stocks

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

Stocks do well in very little cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lemont. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Lemont is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Lemont last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your stocks if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lemont

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 Lemont

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