The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Wilmette you will be able to estimate when you can plant snow-in summer.

Planting Calendar for Snow-in Summer

Frost tolerance for snow-in summer:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant snow-in summer just a bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant snow-in summer in Wilmette 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 snow-in summer and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your snow-in summer may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your snow-in summer indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wilmette and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Wilmette last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your snow-in summer if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

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 Wilmette

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