When to Plant Begonias in Lake Villa, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant begonias is to refer to the USDA zone info for Lake Villa.


Planting Calendar for Begonias

Frost tolerance for begonias: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since begonias require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant begonias in Lake Villa 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 begonias and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your begonias may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your begonias indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Villa the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Villa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Villa you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your begonias if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Villa

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 Lake Villa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Villa.