When to Plant Bunching Onions in Naperville, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Naperville you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant bunching onions by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Bunching Onions

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

You can plant bunching onions just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant bunching onions in Naperville 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 bunching onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your bunching onions may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your bunching onions indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Naperville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Naperville is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Naperville last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your bunching onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Naperville

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 Naperville

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