When to Plant Tropical Water Plants in West Chicago, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 West Chicago should be looked at to estimate when it's possible to plant tropical water plants.

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

Planting Calendar for Tropical Water Plants

Frost tolerance for tropical water plants: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Tropical Water Plants are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant tropical water plants
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant tropical water plants
Probably not a good time to plant tropical water plants

The earliest that you can plant tropical water plants in West Chicago 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 tropical water plants and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your tropical water plants may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your tropical water plants indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for West Chicago is an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in West Chicago you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your tropical water plants if you have 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.