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

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Highland Park should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Pumpkins

Frost tolerance for pumpkins:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since pumpkins are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant pumpkins in Highland Park is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pumpkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your pumpkins may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your pumpkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Highland Park. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Highland Park is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Highland Park last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your pumpkins in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Highland Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Highland Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Highland Park.