The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Lake Geneva you should be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant gherkins.

Planting Calendar for Gherkins

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

Since gherkins require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant gherkins in Lake Geneva 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 gherkins and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your gherkins may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your gherkins indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Geneva 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 Lake Geneva is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Geneva last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your gherkins in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Geneva

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 Lake Geneva

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Geneva.