Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 iberis in Des Plaines can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Iberis

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

Since iberis are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant iberis 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 iberis and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iberis may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your iberis indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Des Plaines. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Des Plaines is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Des Plaines last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your iberis 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.