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

In Evanston you can determine when you can plant turnips by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant turnips until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Evanston 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Evanston. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Evanston is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Evanston you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your turnips in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Evanston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Evanston

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