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

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant erysimum by looking at the USDA zone info for Lake Forest.

Planting Calendar for Erysimum

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

You can plant erysimum a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant erysimum in Lake Forest is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant erysimum and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your erysimum may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your erysimum indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Lake Forest the average date of last frost happens on January 31. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lake Forest and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Forest you get surprised by a frost after January 31 be ready to cover your erysimum if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Forest

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Lake Forest

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Forest.