One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Western Springs should be reviewed to figure out when it's possible to plant pearl onions.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant pearl onions slightly earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Western Springs is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pearl onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pearl onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Western Springs. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Western Springs is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Western Springs last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your pearl onions if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Western Springs

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 Western Springs

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Western Springs.