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When to Plant Bleeding Hearts in Machesney Park, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Machesney Park you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant bleeding hearts.

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Planting Calendar for Bleeding Hearts

Frost tolerance for bleeding hearts: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since bleeding hearts are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant bleeding hearts in Machesney Park is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bleeding hearts and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your bleeding hearts may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bleeding hearts indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Machesney Park. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Machesney Park is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Machesney Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your bleeding hearts if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Machesney Park

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 Machesney Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Machesney Park.