When to Plant Scallions in North Chicago, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when you can plant scallions in North Chicago by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Scallions

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

Since scallions do ok in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant scallions in North Chicago 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 scallions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your scallions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your scallions indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for North Chicago may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in North Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your scallions 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.