One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Defiance you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant endive by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Endive

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

Endive can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant endive in Defiance 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 endive and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your endive may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your endive indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Defiance. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Defiance is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Defiance it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your endive if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Defiance

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Defiance

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