One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A way of determining when it's the best time to plant chicory is to use the USDA zone info for Batavia.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

Chicory do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant chicory in Batavia 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 fully mature. If you are starting your chicory indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Batavia 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.

Remember that USDA zone info for Batavia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Batavia you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chicory if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Batavia

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 Batavia

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