One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 will be able to determine when it's the best time to plant eggplants by checking out the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Eggplants

Frost tolerance for eggplants:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since eggplants do not do well in cold weather you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant eggplants in West Chicago 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 eggplants and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your eggplants may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your eggplants indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Chicago the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for West Chicago is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in West Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your eggplants if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.