One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The earliest that you can plant festuca in Champaign should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Festuca

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

Festuca are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant festuca 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 festuca and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your festuca may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your festuca indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Champaign. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Champaign is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Champaign you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your festuca if you have 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.