One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant cabbage is to consult the USDA zone info for Wauconda.

Planting Calendar for Cabbage

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

Cabbage are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant cabbage in Wauconda 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 cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cabbage 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 Wauconda. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Wauconda is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Wauconda last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your cabbage if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wauconda

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 Wauconda

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