The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant onions in Matteson should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Onions

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

Onions do ok in cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant onions in Matteson 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. Any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your onions indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Matteson the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Matteson is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Matteson last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your onions in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Matteson

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 Matteson

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