One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when to plant lettuce is to use the USDA zone info for Palos Heights.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

Lettuce do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Palos Heights 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 lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Palos Heights. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Palos Heights is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Palos Heights there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lettuce in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palos Heights

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 Palos Heights

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Palos Heights.