One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Vernon Hills should be reviewed to determine when to plant black eyed susans.

Planting Calendar for Black Eyed Susans

Frost tolerance for black eyed susans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since black eyed susans require warm weather you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant black eyed susans in Vernon Hills 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 black eyed susans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black eyed susans may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your black eyed susans indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Vernon Hills. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Vernon Hills and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Vernon Hills it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your black eyed susans if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Vernon Hills

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 Vernon Hills

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Vernon Hills.