When to Plant Lunaria in Zion, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant lunaria in Zion by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Lunaria

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

Since lunaria are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lunaria
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lunaria
Probably not a good time to plant lunaria

The earliest that you can plant lunaria in Zion 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 lunaria and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your lunaria may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lunaria indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zion the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember 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 Zion and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Zion it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your lunaria in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zion

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 Zion

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zion.