One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant erysimum in Champaign can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Erysimum

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

Erysimum do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant erysimum in Champaign 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 erysimum and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your erysimum may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your erysimum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Champaign. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Champaign is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Champaign last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your erysimum in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Champaign

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 Champaign

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