One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant squash is to look at the USDA zone info for Schiller Park.

Planting Calendar for Squash

Frost tolerance for squash:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Squash do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant squash in Schiller Park is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your squash indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Schiller Park. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Schiller Park is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Schiller Park last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your squash in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Schiller Park

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 Schiller Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Schiller Park.