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.

The USDA zone info for Ottawa can be read to estimate when you can plant endive.

Planting Calendar for Endive

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

You can plant endive a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant endive in Ottawa 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 endive and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your endive may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your endive indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ottawa there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your endive in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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