Regional guide

McHenry County Illinois Planting Guide

Illinois Extension McHenry County guide for seven vegetable planting windows, transplant labels, and fall harvest timing.

Climate signals

• The Vegetable Garden Planting Guide for McHenry County comes from Bruce Spangenberg's Yard and Garden Manual for McHenry County 3/01 Edition.
• The guide says its crop rows are by seed unless otherwise stated, so rows labeled plants should be treated as transplant rows.
• Use this as a McHenry County planting-window example, not one exact date set for statewide Illinois or nearby metro gardens.

Planning notes

• First planting is April 10 to 20 for asparagus, kale, kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, mustard, onion seeds and sets, peas, early potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, and early turnips.
• Second planting is April 25 to May 5 for beets, broccoli plants, cabbage plants, carrots, head lettuce, New Zealand spinach, parsley, parsnips, radishes, salsify, and Swiss chard.
• Third planting is May 10 to 20 for snap beans, sweet corn, and cauliflower plants.
• Fourth planting is May 15 to 31 for beets, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant plants, lima beans, sweet potatoes, peppers, snap beans, squash, tomatoes plants, watermelon, and muskmelon.
• Fifth planting is June 28 to July 8 for fall harvest rows including beets, broccoli plants, Brussels sprouts plants, cabbage plants, carrots, cauliflower plants, Chinese cabbage, endive, kale, pumpkin, snap beans, and summer squash.
• Sixth planting is July 17 to 26 for fall harvest rows of romaine lettuce, kohlrabi, late turnips, winter radishes, and snap beans.
• Seventh planting is August 11 to 20 for fall harvest rows of leaf lettuce, mustard, spinach, and spring radishes.
• Source rows without priority links include asparagus, early potatoes, rhubarb, New Zealand spinach, salsify, lima beans, sweet potatoes, generic squash, summer squash, and Chinese cabbage because the catalog lacks a clean crop match or the guide uses a broad source row.
• Use these priority catalog links as crop-row examples, not Illinois Extension cultivar recommendations.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

• Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Early White Vienna Kohlrabi Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 days
• Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
• Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
• Green Curled Endive Vegetable · Cool · 85 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days

Related regional guides

• Illinois Three-Region Vegetable Garden An Illinois vegetable guide for Northern, Central, and Southern planting-date columns, frost-free ranges, and seasonal crop timing.
• Chicago Area Illinois Vegetable Planting Guide Illinois Extension guide for Chicago-area gardeners using Northern Illinois planting windows with an urban heat caveat against Central Illinois dates.

Source: Illinois Extension McHenry County vegetable garden planting guide