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.

The first opportunity to plant squash in West Chicago can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Squash

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

It's a bad idea to plant squash until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant squash 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 squash and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your squash may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your squash indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in West Chicago. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for West Chicago may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in West Chicago there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your squash in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.