One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A common way of estimating when you can plant endive is to examine the USDA zone info for Lowell.

Planting Calendar for Endive

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

Since endive do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Lowell. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lowell and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lowell you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your endive in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lowell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Lowell

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