One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Rantoul should be looked at to determine when you can plant bunching onions.

Planting Calendar for Bunching Onions

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

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

The earliest that you can plant bunching onions in Rantoul 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 bunching onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bunching onions may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your bunching onions 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 Rantoul. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Rantoul is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rantoul you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your bunching onions if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rantoul

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 Rantoul

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