One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when you can plant stocks is to use the USDA zone info for Wilmette.

Planting Calendar for Stocks

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

Stocks do ok in some cold which means that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Wilmette 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 stocks and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your stocks may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your stocks indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Wilmette. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wilmette is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmette you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your stocks in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.