When to Plant Broccoli in Mount Prospect, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant broccoli is to look at the USDA zone info for Mount Prospect.


Planting Calendar for Broccoli

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

Since broccoli are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant broccoli in Mount Prospect 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 broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your broccoli may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your broccoli indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Mount Prospect. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mount Prospect and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mount Prospect there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your broccoli in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mount Prospect

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 Mount Prospect

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Mount Prospect.