When to Plant Eggplants in Willowbrook, IL

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 first opportunity to plant eggplants in Willowbrook can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Eggplants

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant eggplants until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Willowbrook is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Willowbrook it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your eggplants in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Willowbrook

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 Willowbrook

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