One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant foxglove is to check out the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Foxglove

Frost tolerance for foxglove:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since foxglove do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant foxglove in West Chicago 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 foxglove and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your foxglove may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your foxglove indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Chicago the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Chicago and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in West Chicago you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your foxglove in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.