When to Plant Zucchini in Urbana, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can figure out when it's possible to plant zucchini in Urbana by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Zucchini

Frost tolerance for zucchini: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant zucchini until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant zucchini in Urbana 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 zucchini and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your zucchini may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your zucchini indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Urbana. It might get as low as -15°F during 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 Urbana and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Urbana it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your zucchini in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Urbana

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 Urbana

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