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.

A way of determining when you can plant lysimachia is to look at the USDA zone info for West Chicago.

Planting Calendar for Lysimachia

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

Lysimachia are moderately cold tolerant which means that you can start planting them earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant lysimachia 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 lysimachia and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lysimachia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your lysimachia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In West Chicago the average date of last frost happens on April 15. 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 an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Chicago and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in West Chicago you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lysimachia 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.