When to Plant Forget-Me-Not in Ottawa, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. 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 forget-me-not in Ottawa can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Forget-Me-Not

Frost tolerance for forget-me-not: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant forget-me-not a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant forget-me-not
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant forget-me-not
Probably not a good time to plant forget-me-not

The earliest that you can plant forget-me-not 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 forget-me-not and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your forget-me-not may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your forget-me-not indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ottawa. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it is different every year. Half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your forget-me-not in the event of a 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.