When to Plant Achillea in Ottawa, 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.

The first opportunity to plant achillea in Ottawa can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Achillea

Frost tolerance for achillea: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Achillea do ok in cold weather which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ottawa. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ottawa is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your achillea if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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