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When to Plant Calliopsis in Des Plaines, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant calliopsis in Des Plaines by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Calliopsis

Frost tolerance for calliopsis: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Calliopsis require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant calliopsis in Des Plaines is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant calliopsis and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your calliopsis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your calliopsis indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Des Plaines. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Des Plaines and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Des Plaines it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your calliopsis if you have a surprise late frost.

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.