One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 Des Plaines you can figure out when it's a good idea to plant armeria by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Armeria

Frost tolerance for armeria:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since armeria do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant armeria in Des Plaines 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 armeria and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your armeria may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your armeria indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Des Plaines 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.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Des Plaines and it is different every year. Half of the time in Des Plaines you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your armeria in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Des Plaines

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 Des Plaines

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Des Plaines.