One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Winnetka you can figure out when you can plant lettuce by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

Frost tolerance for lettuce:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Lettuce do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Winnetka 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 lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Winnetka. 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 an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Winnetka and it is different every year. Half of the time in Winnetka you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your lettuce in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winnetka

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 Winnetka

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