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.

You can determine when to plant chicory in Dowagiac by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

Since chicory are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Dowagiac 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 chicory and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your chicory may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your chicory indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dowagiac the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Dowagiac is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Dowagiac there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your chicory if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dowagiac

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 Dowagiac

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