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

One way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant radicchio is to consult the USDA zone info for Northfield.

Planting Calendar for Radicchio

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

Radicchio tend to make it in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant radicchio in Northfield 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 radicchio and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your radicchio may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your radicchio indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Northfield the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Northfield is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Northfield there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your radicchio in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Northfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Northfield

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