When to Plant Asparagus in Riverside, IL

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

It's possible to estimate when you can plant asparagus by checking out the USDA zone info for Riverside.


Planting Calendar for Asparagus

Frost tolerance for asparagus: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Asparagus tend to make it in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant asparagus in Riverside 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 asparagus and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your asparagus may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your asparagus indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Riverside the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Riverside and it is different every year. Half of the time in Riverside it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your asparagus if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Riverside

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Riverside

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