One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant bok choi in Rockford should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bok Choi

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

You can plant bok choi just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant bok choi in Rockford 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 bok choi and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bok choi may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bok choi indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Rockford 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.

Since the USDA zone info for Rockford is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Rockford it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your bok choi if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rockford

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 Rockford

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