When to Plant Onions in Markham, IL

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.

The USDA zone info for Markham can be reffered to in order to estimate when you can plant onions.


Planting Calendar for Onions

Frost tolerance for onions: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since onions do well in cold you can plant them earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant onions
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant onions
Probably not a good time to plant onions

The earliest that you can plant onions in Markham 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your onions 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 Markham. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Markham may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Markham there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Markham

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 Markham

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