When to Plant Tall Phlox in Freeport, IL

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.

A common way of figuring out when to plant tall phlox is to check out the USDA zone info for Freeport.


Planting Calendar for Tall Phlox

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

Tall Phlox are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant tall phlox in Freeport 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 tall phlox and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your tall phlox may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your tall phlox indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Freeport the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Freeport and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Freeport last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your tall phlox in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Freeport

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-20°F
Highest Expected Low-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Freeport

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Freeport.