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.

The USDA zone info for North Chicago can be read to determine when to plant carrots.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

Carrots are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in North Chicago 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your carrots indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in North Chicago. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for North Chicago may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in North Chicago last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your carrots in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for North Chicago

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 North Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for North Chicago.