When to Plant Flower-of-an-Hour in Ottawa, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 looking at the USDA zone info for Ottawa you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant flower-of-an-hour.

Create beautiful hand-made plants at forever-plants.com

Planting Calendar for Flower-of-an-Hour

Frost tolerance for flower-of-an-hour: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant flower-of-an-hour a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant flower-of-an-hour
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant flower-of-an-hour
Probably not a good time to plant flower-of-an-hour

The earliest that you can plant flower-of-an-hour in Ottawa 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 flower-of-an-hour and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your flower-of-an-hour may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your flower-of-an-hour 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 Ottawa. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your flower-of-an-hour 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.