When to Plant Lemon grass in Champaign, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 first chance to plant lemon grass in Champaign can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Lemon grass

Frost tolerance for lemon grass: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Lemon grass are barely cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lemon grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lemon grass
Probably not a good time to plant lemon grass

The earliest that you can plant lemon grass in Champaign is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant lemon grass and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lemon grass may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lemon grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Champaign the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Champaign may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Champaign last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your lemon grass in the event of a surprise 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.