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

A common way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant chinese cabbage is to refer to the USDA zone info for North Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Chinese cabbage

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

You can plant chinese cabbage just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage 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 chinese cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chinese cabbage indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in North Chicago. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for North Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in North Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to cover your chinese cabbage if you have 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.